This version of the project is a maze-like installation where the audience is guided through the spaces in order to see new scenes of the performance. The performance is a non linear narrative, not literal and not theatrical in the sense of pretending to be a character, but instead putting the performer’s body into situations that would explicitly investigate the topics of the work.
The installation is separated in six blocks, each hosting one scene with a different structure. Participants are welcomed to explore the space individually, so each would have a different starting time for the performance.
Block one – coffee seeds for a neutral mind
Complex version
The first block is a smooth transition from the “real” world to this universe. I write real in quotation marks because the intention of this space is exactly to expand the notion of reality, in a way that does not assume that what’s digital is less real than what is physical – and also, that if the notion of reality is attached to the sense of sight, touch, smell and taste, it’s irrelevant to use this term. What I propose is to see the world sensorially, and investigate the possibilities for the notion of reality independently of being based on our five senses. I invite the audience to investigate it boldly, without having to get attached to senses to have some sort of security, but rather trusting the space and expanding this understanding by trusting a performative persona that guides them through this journey.
For that, I suggest a smooth introduction. A space of transition that delicately brings their senses to a point zero, a place of start, as if when we smell coffee seeds in between smelling perfumes at store, to prepare the body for what is about to come next. The brief introduction is intentionally an illustrative space, probably a tunnel like platform with gradually lower lights, and shinning elements around the person for them to feel they are being guided and can trust the walk inside the installation. I don’t plan on putting any textures on the floor at this point, so have it in a familiar material to not bring so much attention to it. It would have a translucent handrail with light inside, which in the end of the catwalk reduces into only light, as illustrated. The space is silent in the beginning, and throughout the introduction a neutral sound plays, gradually being louder, but never too loud that it is uncomfortable. This sound will keep playing until the end of the journey.
In the end of this walk, the participant enters a bigger space, with the walls and ceiling not being so limiting as in the platform, and don’t have the handrail anymore, just the light that goes out of its end. At this point, I expect to have guided the audience into a neutral state of mind, in which they feel ready and curious for the next steps.
Example of walkway to reach the bigger space. Floor with familiar materiality, simple and translucent railway with light. In the end, light continues as if the the railway did as well.
Block two – absurd familiarity
Complex version
In the second part of the installation, the audience is challenged to question how the approach of this conversation between performer and them is going to happen. I imagine this would be a good point for them to be presented to the performer, the performance itself, or any persona that will be used to communicate content to them. I think a dream-like video could be a nice fist talk between the parts, and imagine that in order for them to have the first perception that they will be invited to fully dive into this universe, they should have their senses put into action.
For this part, I imagine a video being played in a big screen that moves in the rhythm the person walks. Following the structure of the last block, the participant would have a set space to walk, a guiding trail on the floor. The reason for this is purely technical – if there is a small space cut off from the screen, and it is the exact same size of the trail for the audience to walk on, I could play with materiality on their feet. I am a big enthusiast of exploring the sense of touch through other parts of the body that are not the hands, because I think it is often forgotten how sensible our skin is in the whole body. As the screen moves, in the pace of the participants walk, some of the same materials that are shown on the video could be presented on the floor, so that, apart from being immersed on the content being shown, they also have a gradual sense of participation as they feel these textures on the physical space they are in.
This tracking is done using the Isadora Software, by Troikatronix. It is a graphic programming platform that allows users to visually relate technological resources to the scene. Using a simple tracking camera, it is possible to create a patch that will allow the participants motion to the movement of the screen. In other words: if the participants walks in a direction, the screen moves in the same direction. If the person stops, the screen stops. The patch is a shortcut used to connect the body of the participant and the “body” of the screen. On top of the screen, the motion camera is fixed so that it is constantly tracking the person. The camera is connected to a computer running Isadora. The computer is also connected to a motor, similar to the ones used to retract ropes, that makes the screen be pulled back following the movements of the person. As the person moves forward, they get in contact with different floor textures.
The cameras used for this can be:
– Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360 (Model 1414 or 1473 Kinect)
– Orbbec Astra Pro and Astra Mini
– Intel Realsense D435
Without the cameras, the patch for this part can be created, but it’s not possible to make a preview. In the next weeks, I will try to rent one to demonstrate and update this page.
As for content, I imagine it to be a short story-like video that shows sensations and feeling by putting the body in relation to materiality. It shouldn’t be a story as in beginning, climax and end, but rather just a sequence of climaxes. The challenge is to think how to put it in a video that doesn’t feel overwhelming or kind of attacking the participant, since it’s the first content part they will get in touch with. As they walk, they would feel the same materials passing through their feet and lower legs. The movements shown on video should be of a body putting itself in bold situations, with no editing of any kind, but explicating how absurd this body-material could look like, and which weird looking creatures and expanded bodies can emerge.
Then, in order to slowly transition to 3D digital and physical absurdity, I plan to insert a “physical” introduction between audience and performer. For that, a transparent screen will be placed on the way between both, that may give the audience the sensation that the happening on the other side is purely virtual, when it is actually a live performer acting now. Whatever the performer is doing, it should also be an extreme short performance to intensify this sensation of doubt.
The participants are then guided into an even bigger space, where walls are not initially seen because of the width of the space. The room would have dunes made of small glass beads, and the audience could walk in between them. The intention is to have a dream-like space, that has the performer at a higher point in between the dunes, continuing the performance. This way, the audience would already be sufficiently familiarized with absurd settings, so they wouldn’t understand the space as an illustrative story-telling, but rather a strange, magical space they could use as an “anchor” to be able to relate to the performer – a safe place where they would be more comfortable watching the persona dive into the unknown.
Block three – it is not a dream
Complex version
In this part, the intention is to confirm the questioning that the audience should have until this moment, an experience of using touch to investigate the existence or not of what is seen. For that, I intend to explicitly mix digital and physical elements, in a way that they are so seamlessly blend, the participants truly believe some digital elements are actually physical.
For the transition between the last and this block, I plan to insert two or three scenes that expose the body in bold, intense movement dramaturgies/small performances, using plastic elements to disguise the performers identity and serve as an expanded body. The first is the one with the fake screen, the second is the last part of the second block on the dunes, and the third is also on the dunes, but using an hologram instead of the performer itself.
The hologram gives the persona some freedom to act in the boldest possible ways, that wouldn’t be advisable without the digital extension of the person because they could compromise their physical integrity. One movement I imagine is an explicit reference to Yves Klein’s The Jump, the performer diving into the abyss of the unknown from the top of the dunes. This should be filmed beforehand, and shown in the space through a projection on a holographic screen. I thought this could maybe mean some sort of cheating as I mentioned above, in the sense of interpreting instead of acting. But the jump would be real. It would have to be filmed in a space where the performer could throw themselves from a high point in the direction of the floor. Even if this space has cushions or something to dampen the damage, the fall is real.
See below an example of a projection on an holographic screen. On the pictures, you can see better that it’s a transparent screen because of the objects behind it, which gives a sense of a 3D person. In the following weeks, I will explore better other ways for the screen to be used. In the video, you can see that it looks like a video of a person moving, when it’s actually a video of a projection of a video. Someone that would be present would have the sensation that they are seeing a person live, when they are actually seeing a projection of a video of a person.
For the last part of this block, the participants will be guided into a room of reflections. This is the start of the transition for the main part of the project, that is Block five – the secret, so a more intimate path begins here.
The space is a spiral looking corridor that has glass walls on one side, and a scenography on the other side. The wall is separated into three blocks of glass. Looking at the first one, the person would see themselves, as in a reflection, through a live and simultaneous video transition of them, being filmed from one side, and being projected on the glass. The scenography behind the screen would be the exact same as the one behind them. On the second glass, the person would see also the same scenography, but the performer that was guiding them until now as well, as if they were also a reflection and were behind them, but they are actually only seen on the reflection. This can be done either by the performer being behind the glass, or another projection of them being made by the side of the audience’s projection. On the same “station”, there comes a moment when the performer’s face is projected on top of the persons’ face (see image as reference). On the last glass, only the scenography is being shown, no projections of reflections.
2. Glasses one, two and three with participant in front of them. On glass one, the exact same scenography, and a projector on top of the audience member, projecting their body on the glass. On glass two, the same, plus scenography elements on the inside that are not present on the audience’s side, and a performer. On glass three, just the same scenography, but no projection.
3. Explanation of how to mutually film and project the audience’s body on the glass. On one side of the glass, a camera filming the person. On the other side, a projector simultaneously showing the image that is being recorded.
Block four – I am space
Complex version
In the end of the last block, we started the introduction of a way more intimate path, designed to make the audience feel that they are approaching the core of the space, a path that is not so vast and it’s rather more like they are walking towards a secret.
By the end of the previous stage, the participants see a repetition of the shinning elements seen in the first block, which in this block only continue gradually until they take over the space – floor, walls, ceiling. This block its somewhat simple, a break from the extensive amount of information they had in the previous ones. The corridor of the last block continues, and the only elements on the space are the elements, that get more and more repetitive over the way, and the sound, which is the same of the start of the journey, getting gradually louder or more complex. I will soon update this page with an example of sound and its development.
The reason for this choice, apart from keeping it simple to give a little rest to the eyes and mind, is also to connect with the silence and the moment where nothing happens, the Ma. In my perspective, it is extremely important to give close attention to these moments, because they are not only as meaningful as the ones where one receives information, but it is also the moments that give meaning to the other ones.
Block five – the secret
Complex version
Following the repetition of elements, the audience is then guided to a space that seems like a capsule, with infinite LED mirrors above and beneath them, and walls that keep the repetition of elements. The floor and ceiling give the sensation of a never ending space, and that they are so blent with it that they are now one.
One possibility for this space is also to place a miniature of it inside it, like in the drawing. The person is inside this capsule, and being a miniature of the capsule itself there. A camera is on the ceiling, filming as the person observes. When they look inside the miniature, they find a projection of themselves, of the video being transmitted live. Now, they not only feel as part of this space, but also see themselves in this condition. As in many parts of this journey, I imagine it will be necessary to have some sort of audio guidance at this part, to make sure that the person is aware of the inception-like space.
This part was inspired by George Bataille’s book Eroticism. Bataille argues that isolation leads to disconnection from others, which leads to a sense of sexual infinitude, non-life and non-death. A limbo of the senses. He interprets sexual self-realization as an attempt to feel alive and conceive sense of finitude, to generate a complete cycle. It is a self-realization through discrete imagination, and I propose this imagination to happen through explicit rite, which is this performance. I propose a fusion of my body with the poetic body, that briefly diminishes the abyss between the body-self and the body-other, a ritual that tears the constituted self out of my discontinuous order. A return to the animal world for the total destruction of the world of rules.
In his book, he states that the unintelligible and unknown continuity of being is “the secret of eroticism and of which only eroticism has the secret” (BATAILLE, 2013, p. 24). The continuity is in the fusion of bodies. This fusion makes it possible to lessen the gulf, even if only for a short time, between the self and the other. Thus, eroticism is the violence that rips the constituted being out of its discontinuous order. The idea for this part of the space is exactly a point in the movement dramaturgy that gets the audience in touch with this sense of infinitude.
Block six – I am infinite
Complex version
In the last block of the installation, the audience is guided to an open, vast space accessible through a big opening with lights coming from the sides of the passage, making reference to a birth, death or transformation. The persons enter this space that has nothing but a subtle repetition of the same elements from the past blocks on the ceiling. The space is dark and the only parts that have light are the elements, and the bottom part of seats that are available throughout the space. There is a background music that is created based on the sound that was played during the whole experience.
The audience is welcomed to sit on the benches and experience visiting virtual spaces through the use of VR, AR or MR. This is the part of the research that inspired me to later think this installation blent with either of those three resources, but this will be explored later. For now, consider that AR will be used in this part.
The audience will be instructed to use an app, previously existing (such as Snapchat, Instagram) or one developed specially for the presentation, in which they see though their screens either portals or big versions of the repetitive elements. When they walk towards these elements, they enter a different space. The elements are exactly the same, visually, but when they enter those spaces the content is different in each. The possibilities alternate between spaces that confirm the sensations suggested during the experience – spaces with content relating to silence, to the Ma, to moments where nothing happens or small happenings, and the extreme opposite we are used to in a daily basis – chaotic traffic images, persons in a hurry, social media loop. The audience doesn’t know which sort of space they are entering before doing it, since in the outside the objects are the same.
Below, see examples of an AR format to access these spaces, and possible contents to be found inside the virtual settings. The contents are here represented in 2D filming, but to be part of the virtual space, they would have to be filmed in 360 degrees. This can be done with a 360 Camera, such as GoPro MAX.
