About Presence
Presence is a special e-journal project initiated by the
editorial board of ePAI, the electronic incarnation of the formerly
print-based journal Performance Arts International. Funded and published
by the School of Arts at Middlesex University (UK), ePAI is currently
in the process of re-framing its scope and focus, the better to address
the challenges of online academic knowledge production. To this end,
Presence has served as an opportunity for innovation and
experimentation.
A collaboration between Paul Rae, Michael Atavar, and Roberto
Battista (graphic designer), the project explores ways of presenting
academic and related work in a manner that is specific to the online
medium, while respecting the dominant conventions that govern the
publication of research. To this end, a range of writers and artists
have contributed pieces that intersect, at some level, reflections on
performance, and the specific conditions of the Internet. The aim was to
produce a site with a clean, strong visual identity versatile enough to
incorporate a range of presentational styles without turning its back
on academic convention. The articles themselves offer a range of
perspectives on contemporary performance and performance theory, with
questions of the actual and the virtual emerging as a recurring theme.
Contact details for each contributor are listed on their dedicated 'home pages'.