From real to virtual and vice versa: migrations. Performing Media as a sensorial practice of inhabiting physical hybrid space

This article explores the dynamics and effects of the current processes of spatial migration from the real physical world to the virtual digital one. While our society is aware of the move towards a virtual and computerised universe, it seems to ignore what moves from the digital world towards the physical one: the process of importing intangible laws from the virtual world towards the concrete one is less evident. An increasingly vague and invasive blurred line is involving our way of inhabiting physical space through our body, which is the element most challenged in this process. Indeed, the characteristic of virtual spaces is that of being intangible (at least in experience) and immaterial. To enter immersive virtual space, one must leave one’s organic and sensory body outside. Recognizing the current level of dependence on technological devices and given the risks of spatial and sensorial alienation posed by the information technology era on humanity, causing a crucial alteration of its interaction with its environment, this text contemplates the necessity of redefining the relationship between humans and technology. Focusing on the practice of Performing Media, the paper illustrates how multimedia interactions can reconnect humans with their lived spaces, creating vibrant, augmented stages for daily life.