@article{ART003033898},
author={Kim, Dasan},
title={Metaverse and Performance: Simulated Liveness between the Virtual and the Real},
journal={Journal of Modern English Drama},
issn={1226-3397},
year={2023},
volume={36},
number={3},
pages={5-28}
TY - JOUR
AU - Kim, Dasan
TI - Metaverse and Performance: Simulated Liveness between the Virtual and the Real
JO - Journal of Modern English Drama
PY - 2023
VL - 36
IS - 3
PB - 한국현대영미드라마학회
SP - 5
EP - 28
SN - 1226-3397
AB - This paper aims to explore the role of the Metaverse in performance.
Amidst the unexpected Covid-19 pandemic, the Metaverse emerged as an effective alternative platform, allowing people to interact freely despite the restrictions on public gatherings. The prolonged period of social distancing led to a surge in virtual theater performances as a new societal practice. However, with the transition to an endemic phase, the Metaverse performances experienced a swift decline. In investigating the Metaverse performance, this paper begins with the inquiry of whether mimesis fosters subversiveness or merely exists as the subordinate other to the real. Although the idea of theatre as a virtual space is not entirely novel, the Metaverse complicates the binary opposition between the notion of the virtual and the real by striving to render the virtual as realistic as possible. This paper examines Travis Scott’s virtual concert hosted on the online game platform Fortnite in 2020 and adopts the concept of “liveness” and reconsiders the extensively debated discourse between Peggy Phelan and Philip Auslander from the 1990s as the theoretical methodology. While Phelan characterizes ephemerality as the ontological condition of performance, Auslander acknowledges the mediatized nature as constituting “live” performance. This paper examines the quandary encountered by Metaverse theater. On one hand, Metaverse performance acknowledges the audience/user’s subjectivity by promoting an immersive experience. On the other, the genre fundamentally undermines the audience’s subversiveness, as their subjectivity relies on simulated liveness.
KW - Metaverse;performance;mimesis;virtual;real;simulation;liveness;subversiveness
DO -
UR -
ER -
Kim, Dasan. (2023). Metaverse and Performance: Simulated Liveness between the Virtual and the Real. Journal of Modern English Drama, 36(3), 5-28.
Kim, Dasan. 2023, "Metaverse and Performance: Simulated Liveness between the Virtual and the Real", Journal of Modern English Drama, vol.36, no.3 pp.5-28.
Kim, Dasan "Metaverse and Performance: Simulated Liveness between the Virtual and the Real" Journal of Modern English Drama 36.3 pp.5-28 (2023) : 5.
Kim, Dasan. Metaverse and Performance: Simulated Liveness between the Virtual and the Real. 2023; 36(3), 5-28.
Kim, Dasan. "Metaverse and Performance: Simulated Liveness between the Virtual and the Real" Journal of Modern English Drama 36, no.3 (2023) : 5-28.
Kim, Dasan. Metaverse and Performance: Simulated Liveness between the Virtual and the Real. Journal of Modern English Drama, 36(3), 5-28.
Kim, Dasan. Metaverse and Performance: Simulated Liveness between the Virtual and the Real. Journal of Modern English Drama. 2023; 36(3) 5-28.
Kim, Dasan. Metaverse and Performance: Simulated Liveness between the Virtual and the Real. 2023; 36(3), 5-28.
Kim, Dasan. "Metaverse and Performance: Simulated Liveness between the Virtual and the Real" Journal of Modern English Drama 36, no.3 (2023) : 5-28.
