reaction-action
how it started...
how it started...
Discussing our previous work, we realized we had one main concern in common: individual identity and one´s relationship with the larger society.
A is concerned with
the relationship between spatial presence as dissociation
and depression and anxiety disorders
escapism and the feeling of being in another world
Individual identity
vs
society
R is concerned with
desire of evasion from urban enviornments
the power of choice in pursuing an alternative lifestyle
K is concerned with
individuality with a homogenizing culture
going forward...
We decided to focus on the control of the larger society over individual choice.
We tried to find a visual and physical manifestation of uncoerced control, preferebly one that would involve the audience.
In the end we settled for a scored input output performance reflectinh the way an individual might idiosyncraticly act under this control.
Here is the process that lead us to this result:
By "uncoerced control" we mean control that is exercised over oneself that is not fought against, this can happen for several reasons:
-
not being aware of such influence;
-
the control coming in the form of culture and being slowly programmed into you by those aroud you who aren´t even aware of doing it;
-
the thought that is better to "be normal"; etc.
mirrors that project distortions of the self
live broadcast performance to whatch and judge yourself
game like interface where you can create an avatar
interaction of the audience with water marbling painting
brainstorm
miserably failed attempt at creating cheap marble painting but amazing visual results using a overhead projector! We have rythm, color and shapes that mingle
inclusion of performance
inclusion of sound to create a chain of command
So after finding something we were visually interested in, we wanted to incorporate performativity into our work. As the aspect of performance relates directly to the programmed action of everyday life. The existence of the performer also allows the audience to empathise more closely with the subject than if they were merely looking at an abstract composition.
Then the inclusion of sound allows us to create a chain of reaction that reflects the way culture and trends travel between individuals, like a game of broken telephone where one sees, one listens and one acts and information loses and acquires meanings as it moves.
image commands sound commands performer
the vocabulary
water in
blue
red
mixed
fizziness
small bubble
big bubble
bubble joining
the performance
how we drive attention
Because our performance has three points of action, it is possible to conclude they drive attention in different ways and also bounce off each other.
Visually there's a progressive continuity due to the slow shifting and "wandering" of the shapes, on the other hand, the performer, that is also integrating the visual, has an ambivalent discontinuity as their action is both continuous (repetitive action) and discontinuous (this action is segmented, with clear breaks, and the movements change). The more attention the audience pays, the more obvious the discontinuity becomes.
The audio shows a radical discontinuity - as the sounds start and end abrouptly and are very distinguishable from each other.
The audio-visual relation of these parts is pratically inconclusive, as there is a causal link between them, but due to the apparent synchrony of the parts the audience can not distinguish who/what is leading the action. Therefore, the established hierarchy is lost upon the audience: to them, the performer is the bridge between sound and image, even though in reality they are the last link in the chain.
who inspired us
John Cage - Variations
Steve Reich - Come Out
Vera Mantero - one mysterious Thing, said e.e. cummings*