Following two weeks of concentrated work on the programme I outlined for the a-n PD bursary I was able to put learning and work made in this time in to practice at a music night in Wolverhampton put on by local promoters ‘Bedlam’. Exploring the context of such an event as a platform for a time based performance, I wanted to alter the conventional performer/stage/audience relationship by performing in a way that is affected by the dimensions of the venue and people present. Using a PC application I have developed, where two Kinect scanners work together to produce a ‘third’ aggregated 3d space on screen, a visual feedback loop is created where the audience can recognise and look back at themselves as part of an extended performance space. I used my own body movement control one of the scanners and affect this space to connect further with the audience. Pre-recorded sound was triggered and played through digital reverb effects that formed the sonic boundaries of this virtual environment. The other aspect of the performance was to exhibit another virtual space at a different scale and sound level, for each member of the audience individually by presenting a small handheld display, for 20 second intervals. The effect being to highlight the acclimatisation to a feeling of multi-presence through engaging with multiple screens simultaneously. Both these aspects of the performance create uncanny space by combining digital screens, sensors, glass and sound in a way that is unfamiliar but still talks to our senses of perception.
4min video edit: https://vimeo.com/175113818
Top image: performance setup and main screen
Below: handheld screen box (animation played through glass semi-sphere)
