In The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama Keir Elam suggests that deixis as part of kinesics (i.e. the study of the performer´s movement in space) establishes not only the presence of the body on stage, but also the interrelation between performer and stage.

´Deictic gesture (…) is of decisive importance to theatrical performance, being the primary means whereby the presence and the spatial orientations of the body are established´ (Elam 2002: 65). ´the essential modality (and at the same time the function) of the gesture is its capacity to sketch out the situation-of-utterance, to become deictic, a sign which indicates the presence of the stage and of the actor.´ (Pavis in Elam, 2002: 65)

GEORGE LEGRADY

'To experience space is to engage with it through one´s presence, to posses it by being immersed in it, in the way one possesses space when inside a room, in a park or on the streets. Computer-generated virtual, immersive environments create the illusion of space by simulating visual clues such as boundary delineations, which allow us to perceive directionally and to circulate. Internet space is a metaphoric space accessed through a technological window, linking individuals in real-time across geographical territories. In the process of interacting with the digital world, we can consider ´real space´ to be the site where our bodies can come into contact with the technological devices by which we experience virtual space. Social space then, becomes the site where we gather to watch each other coming into contact with the technological devices used to engage with virtual spaces.' (Legrady in Rieser and Zapp, 2002: 221)

References

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