The performances of the Minneapolis-based BodyCartography Project usually occur anywhere but on a concert stage. Founders Olive Bieringa and Otto Ramstad — who are dancers, video artists and all other manner of creative beings — have gathered collaborators together to perform in art galleries, abandoned buildings, even the alley behind their house.

This week, Thursday-Saturday, however, the group will perform a project on which its members have long dedicated much thought and rehearsal time: “1/2 Life” at the Southern Theater.

The multidisciplinary work explores the effects of scientific research and its aftermath on the human body, specifically at the kinetic locus where a nuclear superpower (i.e., the U.S.), atomic survivor Japan and nuclear-free New Zealand (Bieringa’s country of origin) meet in BodyCartography’s imagination.

Collaborators include composer and harpist Zeena Parkins (who has worked with such avant-garde music luminaries Fred Frith, Christian Marclay, Pauline Oliveras, Bjork, John Zorn and Yoko Ono); visual artist Emmett Ramstad; multimedia artist Bryce Beverlin II, who is earning his Ph.D. in physics; performer Takemi Kitamura; and a bevy of local dancers.

The University of Minnesota’s Institute for Advanced Studies hosts a workshop today, 12-1:30 p.m., Northrop Studio 5, University of Minnesota.

Watch and listen to Bieringa and Beverlin discuss their backgrounds and the project here.

"1/2 Life," BodyCartography Project. Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Southern Theater, Minneapolis. $18. 612-340-1725.