Dr Cat Fergusson-Baugh
| Biography | Hi, I am Cat (she/her/they) and I have been at the University since 2007 having previously held posts at the universities of Kent and Warwick, and I have worked in areas of computer visualisation since 1995 and would broadly characterise myself as a digital researcher and practitioner. The significance of my early focus in the development of reconstructive visualisation for theatre history has been recognised through consultancy and contributions to Channel 4's Lost Buildings series, THEATRON (a virtual theatre resource), and to exhibitions of the work of Edward Gordon Craig and Phillip Loutherbourg for the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. My work on illustrative visualisation prompted a detailed exploration of the methodological impact of reconstructive practice for the theatre historian, which has produced projects and publications exploring the historical development of theatrical form at the site of Drury Lane Theatre and and the work of Vlastislav Hofman (exhibited at the Columbus Museum of Art). Since coming to Hull, I have developed the area of digital performance, first as a taught specialism and now as a growing area of postgraduate research activity. My practice in the emerging area of XR performance includes contributions to Surfaces of Understanding (Oculus installation) and the production Fellow Prisoners (binaural audio walk). My expertise in the practice and theory of audio and digital performance has been internationally recognised through the convenorship and moderation of panel discussions in these areas at the 14th and 15th editions of the Prague Quadrennial. |
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| Research Interests | My research explores the ways in which digital technologies offer extended and alternative approaches to the study and development of live performance events. From the methodological impact of visual reconstruction technologies on visual histories to the development 'simultaneous' realities (through developed sound design or augmentation), new technologies offer us different ways of seeing and opportunities to explore counter-normative proposals and voices. |
| Teaching and Learning | My teaching currently explores modes of performance that may be shaped by the intervention of digital technologies. Digital and interactive performance, environmental and site specific performance and modes of performance that explore the opportunities offered by modes of gaming. |
| PhD Supervision Availability | Yes |
| PhD Topics | I am happy to discuss applications in digital performance, scenography, theatre architecture, computer visualisation, sound performance and XR performance. Current PhD supervision Ed Grimoldby “Dance of the Necromancer - Affective Ontological Engagements with Pre-rendered Intermedia Scenographic Spaces” (first supervisor) Russel Gilbert “Fighting Figures: Professional Wrestling, Kayfabe, and the Creation of New Realities” (co-supervisor) Thandie Hlabana “Gendered Water: Women and Water Crises in Southern Africa” (co-supervisor) Completed PGR Ed Grimoldby “From alchemy to Artaudian 'digital double' : a practical exploration in digital scenography” (MA Res) John Fairless” Through the use of Computer Agents, can Theatre maintain its status as a Live Art Form, in the Digital Era” (MA Res) Liam Watt Pattison “Hypertheatre: Non-Linear Interactive Narratives And How To Actualise Them Through Live Performance” (MA Res) Eva Danickova “Theatre Translation through Collaboration: Dramaturgical Approaches to Translations of Plays Poker Face and From the Dust of Stars in Dramatic Space “ (PhD – co-supervisor) |