What Would You Ask Yourself
Jul 2023
Artist
An interactive installation exploring video as a memory machine.
"What Would You Ask Yourself" is an interactive installation that was conceived as part of the Video As Agent workshop led by Chris Kondek under the Klangkunstbuehne at Universität der Kunst (UdK) in Berlin.
The playful experimentation culminated in a small showcase of artistic fragments. My video installation, titled “What would you ask yourself today?”, imagined the role of video as a memory machine. Using live typing, live camera and projection mapping, audience members were invited to draw, speak or write responses to this question, and view a ‘past’ version of themselves as they did so. Each interaction left a trace in this machine… that others then added on to.
The workshop brought together performers, designers, movers, directors and others curious about the role of video in live performance. Over 7 days, we explored the role of video as information, as a narrator, as energy, as a performer (and even as a good ol’ backdrop to conventional stagecraft elements). We also viewed performance works by Double Lucky productions, the Wooster Group, Rimini Protokoll, Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods and other theatre and opera pieces that used video as an agent of performance.
My participation in this workshop was made possible with the support of the German Chancellor Fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and my host organisation Rimini Protokoll.
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I have been interested in bringing video and other media on stage, not as a passive element but an active entity. In my theatrical I have used video and projection design to challenge this relationship, by having them interact with bodies, spaces and the audience, to give rise to a different kind of dramaturgy. This installation was a uniquely enjoyable experience for me, as each audience member left a trace, either though text or image, that was then passed on to another audience member as they walked up to the system.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
KlangKunstBühne Spezial 2023 - Video as Agent: This workshop, participants experimented with incorporating video into performance. The goal was to develop strategies for thinking creatively about how video can be used as an actor or agent on stage that produces an effect as opposed to a passive screen that just shows something. In the workshop, participants analyzed scenes/texts looking for video ideas and then produced them. They also took Brecht’s radioplay “Ozeanflug” as a basic text to work with, and participants were also encouraged to bring in other texts with which to experiment
TECHNOLOGIES USED
Live Camera - Computer Webcam
Live Transcription - Apple Speech to Text
Video Manipulation - Isadora
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