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 (PhD candidate at Middlesex), Michael Atavar (Internet and Virtual Reality artist), 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'.