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ADelinquentSystemAesthetic
Punchdrunk’simmersivetheatreas
distributedspace-making
Selectionofworks
• TheFirebirdBall
• Faust
• TheCrashoftheElysium
• TheDuchessofMalfi
• TheMasqueoftheRedDeath
• SleepNoMore
• TheDrownedMan
• Kaberoi
TheDrownedMan:
AHollywoodfable
• 2013/2014
• OldSortingOffices,Paddington(London)
• 170installationrooms(fullyrealised)
• 14,000m2
• https://youtu.be/DZKNNMombV8
Structure
• 12performancezones
• 12timeperiods@5minutes
• 3cycles@1hr(firstonebegins15minsin)
• 35actors(TDM)–rotatingcast
• c.50‘BlackMasks’
• 600audiencemembers/night(inthedark)
• Thebuildinvolvednearly500peoplefrombeginningtoend,with90
peoplerequiredfortherunningoftheshoweachday
DifferenceandRepetition
“Becauseofcourse,it’stheatre,likeanytheatre,andyouwanttocreatethisillusionofrepeating
universe,thiscloseduniversethatrepeatsitself.Butalsotheaudienceisexcitedbythefactthatit’s
live.Theaudienceisexcitedbythefactthatit’shappeningnow,andit’sthattension,oneofmany
formsoftensions,thatisinteresting,andexcitingfortheaudience.Thefactthatitisdifferenteach
time,eachsceneisdifferenteachtime,evenifyouareaimingforitnottobe.Becauseit’stheatre,and
it’slive,andit’smessyandtheaudienceisunpredictable,soyoukindofcan’thelpitthatit’sdifferent
onthethirdloopfromthefirstloop,it’sadifferentkindofenergy.[…]Youknow,theshowwouldn’t
happen,oritwouldn’tbeasgoodasitwas,ifitweren’tforpeoplecreatinginperformance,and
makingthesediscoverieswitheachother.Itwouldn’thaveanyofthatfantasticposition,becausewe
wouldn’thavehadthatmanydetails.Mostofthedetailswouldcomefromexperienceofperforming
theshow,andthentheybecomedecisionsthatareset,butatthesametimeit’snotanimprovisation
oftheshow.”
(COM-M-15092014)
Replicableformulae
• Highinitialinvestmentoftimeandeffort
• Scalabilitythroughrepetition,withtheinvestmentofagencyand
experiencebyeachparticipantbuildingexperiencepotential
• Fundamentallydifferenttothe‘generality’approachtoscalability
(followingDeleuze),whichbydefinitionisreductive
• Automationisnotinandofitselfreductive,but:
• Weneedtothinkabouthowwemodelparticipation/participantsin
interactivesystems–AGENTvs.AGENCY
Participation
ModellingAGENCYratherthanAGENTS?
Algorithmicparticipation
“Idefinitelyfeltlikemostofthedecisions,likethecontrolwaskindof
insomebodyelse’shands,andIhadadiminishedcontrol[…]Like
beingaspectatorandanactorallatonce[…]thestuffyoudohaveto
decideoniscompletelypersonal,butwhereyourbodyisn’t[…]I
wantedtobeinthemachine,inthesoftware,Iwantedtoworkwith
thealgorithm,howeveryouwanttoputit.Iwantedtofunction,I
didn’twanttobetheglitchthatwasinthebar,Iwantedtofunction
alongwiththerestofthemachinethatwasgoingon,thatwasalsoa
narrative.”
(AUD-F-03072014)
BlackMasks
• Hiddenwithintheset–actingasextensionsoftheset;the
edgesofthedesignedexperience(quasi-objects/subjects)
• Methodologiesdesignedtomaintain–evenextend–the
narrative,andnotdisruptimmersion
• Designingforedgecases,notonlyforthenorm;
incorporatingcriseswithinourdesignschema
• Criticalfordistributedsystemsthatmeshwiththe
connectivetissuesofoursharedworld
ExampleofBlackMasktechnique
“It’sverycalm;almostlikesomeone’sabouttobrushpastyou.Andthenyou
can…whatwenormallydo,isgoingupbehindthem,handsontheir
shouldersandgrip,andjustgentlypullback,andyougetthemtomove.[…]
Andtherewasanotherthingwhereifyouwantedtowalkwithsomeone,you
couldsortofrun…so,putyourarmdown,justputyourarmdownbyyour
side.Youwoulddothatandjustleadthem,keepthatelbowcontact,soall
yourforearmistouching,ratherthanleadingthemlikekidsinprimary
school.You’rekeepingthemquiteclosetoyou,andyouwouldbeableto
steerthemaswell,withthatforearmcontact.”
(COM-M-27092014)
Postdigitaldimensions
• WhiletheeffectsofBlackMaskinterventionisprofound,the
functionitselfcanbedefinedwithinrelativelynarrowparameters
ineachlocalityornodeoftheinteractivesystem
• HowdowemodelAIwithininteractivesystems?IstheCartesian
conceptanymoreusefulforAIthanitisforourselves?Whatcanwe
learnfromtheBlackMaskfunction?
• AIforedgecasedesignnarratives–andinnarrativedesign
Experientialspaceindetail
“[…]youcan’ttakeinthatpictureinanyonegaze.Theaudiencehastolookthisway
andlookthatway,butwithoutWendy’spresencethere:seeingtheorgythroughher
eyes,becauseherlookingatit,andactuallymycharacterlookingatherlookingatit;
that’swherethemeaningofthesituationis.[…]youcantailorthepitchofyour
performancetotheirdecisionssothatiftheycomeveryclose,evenifyou’restill
playingthegameofinvisibilitywiththem,oryouknow,you’rekeepingupthis
pretencethatyoucan’tseethem[…],soyoumight,ifyouhavetheleeway,youhave
theliberty,youmightdecidetobringthepitchofyourperformancedowntoavery
subtle,closeupkindoflevel,sothatyou’regivingthemsomethingthattheyknowis
justforthem.It’sagift,youknow,asmallgift,youmightimprovisesomethingthat’s
very…inresponsetotheircloseness.”
(COM-M-15092014)
Detailsupportsimmersion
• Allinterviewedaudiencemembersmentioned,
unprompted,thattheattentiontodetailsupported
theirabilitytoyieldtoimmersion(theimmersive
state)
• Interactionsbetweenaudiencesandtheset,the
actors,andtheBlackMasksaredesignedwith
extremeattentiontodetail–whichcarriestheillusion
Effectivenessvs.efficiency
“Thismachinicvitalityisnotsomuchaboutdeterminism,inbuilt
purposeorfinality,butratheraboutbecomingandtransformation.
ThisintroducesaprocessthatDeleuzeandGuattaricall‘becoming-
machine’,inspiredbytheSurrealists’‘bachelormachines’,meaninga
playfulandpleasure-pronerelationshiptotechnologythatisnot
basedonfunctionalism.ForDeleuzethisislinkedtotheprojectof
releasinghumanembodimentfromitsindexationonsocialised
productivitytobecome‘bodieswithoutorgans’,thatistosaywithout
organisedefficiency.”
(Braidotti,2013:91-92)
Postdigitalefficiency?
• MovingbeyondCartesianrationality
constructs
• Embracingedgecasedesign–and‘inefficient’
detail–toexpandexperiencepotential
• Scalabilitythroughreplicableformulae,rather
thanthroughreductivegenerality
“Iknowit'sforentertainment,butitneededtoexist.Anditfeltlikethisculminationoflikesomany
differenttalents,andtheymust'vebeeninfluencedbysomanyotherdifferenttalentsoverthecourse
oftheircareers,whowere,youknowagain,goingback.Soitwaslike,itfeltlike,mytinylittlepinpoint
experienceofit,itfeltlikeitwassuch,Idon'tknow,Ijustfeltatthesametimesominiscule,mylittle
eyeslookingatthisthing,butsoinfiniteatthesametime.Andthenkindof,quitethankful?Butalso,it
wasprobablyjustkindoflike,joyfulimmersion,aswell–likeforcedimmersion.[…]ifpeoplecanmake
youfallofftheclifffaceofconsciousness,thenyoudropintothispooloflike,eternaloneness.[…]I’m
notanew-agehippieperson,Iwouldn'tevenknowwhatthatwouldbe.Butlike,Ibelieveinthe
languageofthesethings,youkindofdropintothispoolofinfiniteoneness,andthat'swherewecame
frombeforeweexisted,andthat'swherewe'regoingbackto.AndIfeellike,whenyoufalloffintothis
like,excitement,it'swarmerandlessscary.AndIfeellikewhentheworldstops,likegenerallywhen
youfallinloveorwhenyouexperiencerealart,itfeelsjustliketimestops–there'snooutside.There's
noyesterday,there'snotomorrow,andyou’rejustkindoffloatingthroughspace.Andit'slike“aaah,
it’sok”[laugh]”
(AUD-M-11072014)
Futuredevelopments
• Scriptinginteractionwithexquisiteattention
todetailtoextendexperientialspace
• Re-thinkingthemodellingofbothAIand
humanagents/agencyininteractiondesign
• Designingforthepostdigitalsublime
Thankyou!
CarinaWestling
@carinawestling