ABSTRACT
Through a media-archaeological perspective, this chapter focuses on the study of performative arts with the analysis of “media theatre” that unfolds within technologies and between humans and machines, and thus adds to the perspective of performance and art studies that this volume primarily presents. Focusing on sonic signals, the text will first adopt a media-archaeological perspective and examine how machines are used for manual, “hands-on” experiments with time. Here, the re-enactment of radio broadcasts and the technical recording of oral poetry will be presented as case studies. Then an attempt to derive epistemological insights from these practices will be made. Finally, emergent practices of technological re-enactment for digital objects will be discussed: from sonic “ghosts” in MP3 compression to truly computer-archaeological emulation as new epistemic category generated in the époque of digital culture.
