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Arts & Communication Digital somatic arts: Choreographing autonomy

corporal boundary leads to the possibility that the body’s Sensation is at the heart of this interperceptual problem
interior and exterior are interrelated. This is the second space, as well as that of the emergent realities linked to it,
condition for understanding these phenomena. Given that particularly those provoked by the technological context. This
the exterior environment is technological, in the context means that, given that sensing takes place through the body,
of video conferencing, and modifies our perception, we indeed within the immanence of the body, the deployment
suggest that the assimilation of this exterior is achieved and complexification of the body are something essentially
through the act of embodiment, which is an act of other than a simple matter of extension, such as found in the
integration. This interrelation between inside and outside most widespread McLuhan’s theory of the body–technology
provokes an evolution, a state of becoming, an ontological relationship (we think of the body as an object). It also
displacement of the body and the sensory, which is in reveals that in or through the technological environment,
continual transformation. This state is a positive personal the source of these other realities is rooted in another form
“risk-taking” in which we play out our own transformation, of corporeality and embodiment; that is, it takes place in a
what French historian Céline Roux calls a “performative Merleau–Pontian flesh in mutation, in transition. 53
attitude.” One of its forms could correspond to the 6.4. Third condition: The integration of Sõma and
52
adaptability that Germain and her students demonstrated technology
when they used the video conferencing tool to continue
their lessons. To understand how this interrelation of inside and outside
can bring about an evolutionary change in the state of the
6.3. The Merleau–Pontian perception of one’s own body, the third condition to consider is the integration
body of somatic principles in this process with technology. We
This transformative relationship between the environment therefore need to look at the interference and effects of
and the body is possible because we have questioned technology from the perspective of the evolution of the
and revisited our vision and conception of the body, “somatic body,” which is linked to “somatic intelligence.”
particularly in the evolving interrelation between the The latter “is also characterized by its experience of the
notions of corporality, corporeality, and embodiment. body as an entity and medium of perception, which deploys
the enhanced capacities that (this) somatic intelligence
This openness—specific to corporeality—is possible provides: an increased capacity to feel, perceive, and
because the body is involved in an interperceptual connect, and to experience the destabilization induced by
dynamic. It perceives changes both in its interiority electronic media.” 54(p141])
and in the world around it, of which it is a part, and
these two levels of perception are interdependent and The three key principles of somatics in these new
interact. In this organizational scheme, the body is both relationships are:
sensitive and sensing: it perceives its inside and its outside (i) The “new learning context” here is the technological
simultaneously. There is no longer any distinction between environment that is experienced daily through video
the sensed world, of which the body is the subject, and the conferencing.
appearance of what is sensed, coming from the world as (ii) Through “sensory autonomy,” as technology passes
the subject of perception. This reveals that it is through the through us and forces us to reorganize, it activates the
body that we experience our immanence in the world, that principle of sensory self-organization, which in turn
the body is our vehicle for being in the world. The body thus provokes sensory emergence. In other words, a new
remains within itself, while it is also within the alchemy sensation experienced will become a new sensation
of experiencing its sensations. If the world is perceived, known, integrating itself into our body schema and
captured by sensations, and it is from these sensations that thereby renewing it. This cohabitation of two types of
sensations (mediated and non-mediated) echoes the
we elaborate our perceptions—that there is a world for us— Merleau–Pontian principle of coexistence mentioned
then we experience our relationship to and understanding earlier. It is a process in which the inner awareness of
of the world through these perceptions. This continually sensation is amplified.
evolving interrelation is the foundation of the principle of (iii) From this newly-awakened sensation, “potentiated
coexistence that lies at the heart of the Merleau–Pontian rest” will act when you take moments of rest. The body
concept of the flesh, which, in this study, will continue to will continue to assimilate this new information, and
evolve in contact with the technological environment.
there will be a reprogramming phenomenon at the
This means that if another type of sensation is created by neuronal connection level. It is a powerful integration
the world around us, with which we interact, we can venture tool involved in the sensory reorganization linked to
to predict that other types of perception may also emerge. movement—and therefore to our ability to adapt.

Volume 3 Issue 3 (2025) 9 doi: 10.36922/ac.4477