Dumb type: “Memorandum”

I discovered Dumb Type in the book “Digital Performance” by Steve Dixon. Their performance “Memorandum” was mentioned in the ‘Time:Memory’ section of the book. I found some parts of this performance in youtube and I think it is very interesting and very relevant with my research. (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ5uGjjAvNI )
It is a performance that investigates memory through the combination of video, dance and fragmented narrative. Abstract images and lights, changing with a very fast rhythm are being projected on four big screens that are forming the main set of the performance. The sound is playing a vital role in it. Strange and abstract electronic sounds are working together with the images to give this weird result: the result of an uncanny world, a reality out of the normal. Like our inside world is: a combination of the conscious and the unconscious, the dreams and memories. As the projections could represent the unconscious (memories or dreams) the physical side of the self in the performance is represented by the body of the performers that appear like moving shadows. The choreography is a combination of contemporary dance and movements from everyday life. There are some moments where we watch a hazy figure dancing in the screen, copying the movements of the real dancer: a play between live and recorded that could represent the relation of the conscious and the unconscious self.
“Amidst a cascade of white noise and REM-speed visual flashes, the performers break down the motions into displaced gestures in silhouette.” This is how the performance is described in the site of Dumb Type (http://dumbtype.com/ ).
The images look like data that are stored in a computer or in our brain. They pass quickly and change. It looks like a quick scan in the brain. The speed of the bursting images is working together with the movement of the performers. Sometimes by contradiction (e.g. the dance is in slow motion when the images are changing in a high speed ) or others by combination. Flashing lights are transforming the performers’ movement and make it look like a series of stopped images, like the ones on the projections. The sound is the element that ties everything together. In my opinion, something that works really successfully is the timings of each different element: sound, image, body movement. The tempo is given from the music and images and bodies are following.
The result, in my opinion is a very coherent imagery that resembles to the function of memory like is the objective of the creator.

MUUALLA – Elsewhere

Ilona Jantti : Choreography and Performance
Tuula Jeker: Animation
Tuomas Norvio: Music and Sound desigh
Annu Palmu: Lighting design

Muualla is the most interesting and inspiring performance I have seen until now, during my staying in London. It is one of the four performances that were presented at 24th November at Linbury Studio (Royal Opera House) as part of the festival: Firsts and it was by far the best of the night.
A screen, a body and a rope are the only materials of the performance. By their interaction they are creating a beautiful imagery. The projection is an animation film, showing strange geometrical creatures, shapes and three dimensional spaces. The performer, who is a dancer and a circus performer, moving near the screen (in a touching distance) and “flying” with the help of the rope, she interacts with it in a way that she is really a part of the projection. The times of her live movements and the animation are really synchronized, that together with the electronic sounds give an impression of one ensemble. The body is totally integrated to the projection screen. Sometimes the performer stays still and the video has movements or the opposite, which results to a great variety in the kind of images we watch. The images constantly change colours, shapes and subjects, enriching the imagery of the piece.
In my opinion, the most interesting part of the performance is the part where the animation represents 3d spaces (3d draws) and the performer with the help of the rope stands vertically on the screen. From the perspective of the audience it looks like she is inside the space, exploring it. It is worth mentioning that the result gives the feeling of a videogame, something that is more emphasized by the contribution of the abstract electronic music-sounds. But even when the images are not three-dimensional, the body is always a part of the 2d imagery in different ways.
The issues of this performance that are connected with my practice is the use of the two dimensional projection in order to create a 3d space and its interaction with the live performing body. The projection here is a very well designed animation to every detail and it is the leading power of the performance. One big screen is becoming the set for a performance. It gives you the feeling of watching a movie, where the protagonist has escaped from the two dimensions of the screen. The interaction of her and the animated objects makes this feeling stronger because it looks like she belongs in there.