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Telematic connections: sensing, feeling, being in space together

ABSTRACT In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and current era of social distancing, video conferencing platforms have taken on a new importance as virtual gathering spaces in lieu of face-to-face interactions. Online interactivity has expanded the ways in which individuals experience connection, intimacy, and touch. Although digital media has traditionally been thought of as disembodied, I argue that it has the ability to elicit intense feelings of embodied touch. This essay will address the embodied nature of digital spaces and the urgent need for both physical distance and virtual closeness. Using Laura Marks's theory of haptic visuality, in which vision takes on a tactile quality, and the concept of virtual touch, a term I developed during my doctoral research in which an affective sensory response of touch is elicited through non-tactile senses, I analyze two performance works that I developed in the HopKins Black Box Performance Laboratory at Louisiana State University: Being Present (2016). Directed by Naomi Bennett, Performances by Jason Jedrusiak and Gabi Vigueira, HopKins Black Box, Louisiana State University. https://vimeo.com/450654368, and (dis)embodied in space: an interactive art installation (2019). Created by Naomi Bennett, Sound Design by Hal Lambert, Performances by Kalli Champagne, Emily Graves, Ethan Hunter, Greg Langner, Josiah Pearsall, and Montana Jean Smith, HopKins Black Box, Louisiana State University. https://vimeo.com/330611615. Using telepresence, which allows individuals to interact remotely in real-time using digital technology, or telematics, these two performances explore new possibilities for virtual intimacy, connection, and touch.