News
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Researchers Publish Landmark Study in Hair Animation
Professor A.M. Darke of Performance, Play, & Design publishes a landmark study in Hair Animation in collaboration with Professor Theodore Kim, and graduate students Haomiao Wu and Alvin Shi. Full Yale article can be found at Yale News The study Curly-Cue: Geometric Methods for Highly Coiled Hair will be presented at the SIGGRAPH Asia conference…
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The Builders Association, founded by artistic director Marianne Weems, set to premiere ATLAS DRUGGED (Tools for Tomorrow)
October 25-27 Marianne Weems is the artistic director of the New York-based cross-media company The Builders Association. Their new production, just in time for the election, ATLAS DRUGGED (Tools for Tomorrow) is an analysis of both the current moment, in which AI-generated “evidence” influences much of what we think and feel, and also a speculation about a…
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UCSC artist micha cárdenas sounds the alarm on climate catastrophe in Toronto exhibition
By Gaby Messino micha cárdenas, an interdisciplinary and multimedia artist, is sounding the warning about climate catastrophe tipping points in her new high-profile exhibition Probability Engine: Atlantic Overturning, which opened on October 5 at Nuit Blanche, Toronto’s all-night celebration of contemporary art. In late 2022, Tim Lenton, founding director of the Global Systems Institute, issued…
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Michael M. Chemers Launches Book: The Figure of the Monster in Global Theatre: Further Readings on the Aesthetics of Disqualification
Michael M. Chemers chair of the Department of Performance, Play, & Design launches new book The Figure of the Monster in Global Theatre: Further Readings on the Aesthetics of Disqualification. ABOUT THE WORK Bringing together international perspectives on the figure of the “monster” in performance, this edited collection builds on discussions in the fields of…
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UC Santa Cruz’s new Department of Performance, Play & Design redefines the art of storytelling for the modern era
One year ago, a seemingly unlikely merger took place within UC Santa Cruz’s Division of the Arts, one that fused together the Department of Theater Arts and the Art & Design: Games + Playable Media Program (AGPM). Renamed the Department of Performance, Play & Design (PPD), it is the only university department in the world…
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Bots and Broadway: Technology and theater go hand-in-hand for UCSC professor Marianne Weems
Using AI-generated text to produce dialogue during a live performance may seem like a wild idea to some, but not to performance and new media professor Marianne Weems. Weems, co-founder and artistic director of New York-based multi-dimensional theater company The Builders Association, is used to pushing the envelope with her ground-breaking work at the intersection of technology, media,…
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Micha Cárdenas Has New Chapter in Her Book Ecogames
Micha Cárdenas, an associate professor in Performance, Play and Design and Critical Race and Ethic Studies, recently announced a new chapter to her book Ecogames Playful Perspectives on the Climate Crisis.
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Bene’t Benton Awarded our First Annual Danny Scheie Scholarship
The Department of Performance, Play & Design was honored to present a special award for the first time in 2023. Danny Scheie was a professor of Acting at UCSC for thirty years. During that time, he was department chair, he was Artistic Director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and he directed countless productions at the school…
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Department of Performance, Play & Design 2022 UAW Strike Solidarity Statement
The faculty of Department of Performance, Play and Design at the University of California, Santa Cruz express our strong solidarity with academic workers of UAW 5810, UAW2865, and SRU-UAW. Read our statement below: Department of Performance, Play and Design Solidarity Statement with the 2022 UAW Strike November 17, 2022 We, the undersigned faculty of the…
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Dance: Random With a Purpose
“Art of the Body, A Body of Art” Friday, February 14, 2014 – 12:00am to Sunday, February 23, 2014 – 12:00am Second Stage, Theater Arts Center (UCSC) Presented by: Theater Arts Department Random with a Purpose is a student-directed, student-choreographed, student-performed, student-produced dance showcase that celebrates 22 years as an artistic collective at UC Santa Cruz. Student choreographers…