Rescripting Data Bodies: Black Body Radiation

This collaborative work is a discussion between performance artist Ama BE and Ameera Kawash who created a digital layer for the work. The performance explores tobacco as ritual, material, adornment, and value- drawing from West African masquerade traditions for its form. The digital design centers artistic agency and digital architectures of choice, opening alternative channels for documenting and funding performance artworks. For the performance, Ama BE is fitted with three body sensors that measure her heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and body temperature. Through a wearable mini-computer, body metrics are uploaded onto a server where they interact with algorithmic and blockchain architectures. Through the use of body sensor networks and blockchain architectures, the work rescripts data bodies as agential and intimate forces extending form the performer's body and are not digitally dispossessed.


