BREATH: DYNAMIC INTERACTION BETWEEN VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE
Pepper’s ghost effect: (source: “The World of Wonders” 1865, Image by: ©ARCHIVE PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES)
Pepper’s ghost effect (source: theatreglossary.co.uk)
Reflection Law: (source: https://isb-ibphysics-dawghouse.wikispaces.com/file/view/law_ of_reflection.gif/43950037/law_of_reflection.gif)
My work is inspired by the technique of Pepper’s Ghost; an illusion effect used in theatre, television, museums, amusement parks and concerts. In this illusion technique, the audience views the stage/room in which ghostly objects fade in and out or the stage/room is visually transformed.It is based on the basic law of reflection (physics, optics), the return of light, heat and sound after reflecting on a surface. Working with mirrors, this happens when a ray of light strikes a mirror, the light ray reflects off the mirror thus changing its direction. The angle of light that approaches the mirror equals the angle of reflection (the light that departs from the mirror). Samuel Beckett’s play “Breath” is a short stage work as it is about 25 seconds. It consists of the first utterances of a crying baby at birth, followed by the sound of inhalation and exhalation accompanied by an increase and decrease in the intensity of the light. There is then a second utterance/cry, and the piece ends. No people are seen on stage but simply the fluctuation of light and the sound. It is an ironic comment. Treading the fine line of minimalism, Beckett manages something that seems impossible: action, plot, logos are all synopsized by breath, light and crying. A drama with no act, a tragedy with no words. But still we are within the realm of the Aristotelian definition of tragedy by the evocation of sympathy and fear in the view allowing access to such emotions. The important and perfect act here is life which is presented completely. The emotions of the viewers are stirred by the allusion to the most primordial agonies of the human being, life and death. Visualizing motion on the white sheet, and wondering what this embodied experience tells me about life, in my installation I used the body as a site of communication even though it is considered absent because it is not physically seen. However, the performer’s body shapes the audience’s experience. Therefore, I created a costume (which covers the body of the performer/ makes the body absent), with mirrors so it could communicate some kind of narrative through its material (Mirror stage /Lacan). This costume was inspired by the works of artists such as Rebecca Horn, Oleg Kulik, Bohyun Yoon and Vinny Kuman. Mirrors and the body, make forms which are interesting as the body moves with them and develops shapes and lines. I explored the clothed body as something that produces meaning, memory, embodied experience and communication. I didn’t use real mirrors, but plastic mirror sheets, which are much safer, lighter and produce the exact same result (reflection) as mirrors. I placed a projector in front of the performer and played a video. I chose to use filmic video because according to Lacan, films have their roots in the mirror stage and the real is based on fantasy and gaze. In cinema (film) the subject is formed through the function of the camera as a narrative, the projector and the screen. This video directly hit the mirror surface of the costume and because of the reflection of the light when it meets the surface of the mirror the video was projected onto the white lycra sheet which was placed as a curtain in front. Because the mirror sheets of the costume weren’t all the same shape or dimensions, the reflections had different shapes. When the performer moved (extremely slowly) those “video shapes” moved and created different images through their shapes. Each time the experience was unique as is was based on the different motions of the performer. Through this, the body’s motion refuses a conventional interpretation of the preservation of the “real” body and challenges the audience to follow these shapes beyond the absent dancer through the figurative presence of movement dynamics illustrated by this “digital ghost”. Video reflections are seen as a metaphor for the human body (the costume of the human body), which is finite and disposable. Visitors experience a living projection and and audio (breath and heartbeat are monitored by a heating sensor). The spasmodic movement of the performer is like a game of rhythmic separation and reconnection of images, reflections that appear and disappear from sight, images which are recognized and lost and return once more.
Rebecca Horn, «Berlin Exercises in Nine Pieces» Exercise 6: Rooms Encountering Each Other, 1974 – 1975) (source: Media Art Net. Image: Unknown photographer)
Oleg Kulik, Armadillo for your Show 2003 (source:Tate Modern.I mage: Manuel Vason, 2003)
Bohyun Yoon: (source: designboom magazine. Image: Unknown photographer)
Vinny Kumar: Mirror Man (source: vinnykumar.com. Image: Unknown photographer) 7
Test in space (physical dimension)
Reflection on the wall
Mirror and projector
Mirror and projector
Lycra Sheet
Experiments mirror-reflection
Mirror Video Reflections Exhibition skecth: Costume
Mirror Video Reflections
Mirror Video Reflections
Exhibition skecthes: Installation 9
Installation
Sample of costume (glove)
Construction of costume
Frames of the filmic artefact Inside of the installation
Installation 11
Furthermore, because the play was called breath, and had to do with the ‘circle of life’, I used a heat sensor placed in an oxygen mask whose function was the increase and decrease in the volume of the actor’s breath. In addition, pre-recorded sounds were used. This was controlled in real time by an Arduino board plugged into Isadora software. The sensor of the installation, was something that really excited me, although it was created at a late stage which did not allow me the time I needed to investigate it even further, something which I wish to do in the future . The audience will be positioned in front of the curtain (on the “outside”). To be outside though, is always to be inside something else. It is a different aspect of perspective which allows the audience both critical and emotional interpretation. This facilitates the feeling of a condition of power and subversion, depending on how and by whom it is used. When I started experimenting with the projector, the mirrors and the reflections on the sheet, I understood that the projector had to be on the floor (or at a lower level than the performer). In that way the video image reflected won’t turn upside down (due to the law of physics). Also, the projector must be up to 2 meters away from the performer to light the whole body (the exact distance depends each time on the model and type of projector). While constructing the costume, I started with a4 pieces and even a3 pieces of mirror sheet. I understood that this didn’t work exactly as I wanted, so I cut the mirrors into smaller rectangular pieces around 10 x 5 cm each. The pieces had to be close to each other. In addition to this, I took a glove and put very small square pieces of mirror sheet (inlay) on it which created small dancing lights between the video reflections. The whole thing was more playful that way. Another area I investigated was the movement of the performer. The performer had to stand very still and move extremely slowly. In that way the reflections are static which facilitates the audience’s understanding of the video.
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Séance de Shadow II (bleu) (source: Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Séance de Shadow II (bleu) 1998. © Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster/Camera Lucida)
Weblinks to video documentation of artwork Dynamic Interaction between visible & invisible (2016) https://vimeo.com/179407182 Dynamic Interaction between visible & invisible II (2016) https://vimeo.com/180604507 Dynamic Interaction between visible & invisible III (2016) https://vimeo.com/181425163
To sum up, even though the outcome that I wanted was achieved (dynamic interaction between visible and invisible), there are some parts I would change in order to further my idea. For example, as Dominique Gonzalez- Foerster did in his interactive installation Sèance de Shadow II (blue), by placing an additional soft light source behind the performer the outline of the body will be more obvious and lessen the feeling of patronization or manipulation of the audience as well as dislocation, caused by the mirror effect and ensure more interaction on many levels. These will be due to the outline of the human body which will add another dimension and involve the audience more. It would be interesting to see how these shadow figures would appear looming large over the white sheet, mixed with the video projection reflections. Another thing I would like to work more on, is the construction of the final costume. When the costume is ready, which will be an individual piece of art, the next step is to use video projection mapping, on the performer’s body. Mapping is necessary because the light from the projector will only hit the surface of the body and will not disperse. Moreover, kinekt (with the help of a technician) or a camera in combination with Isadora software will be necessary in order to track the slow movements of the performer’s body. Lastly, I want to propose two different structures for this installation. The first would be similar to that in the exhibition, with the necessary changes/ corrections (mirror costume, background lighting , curtain in the foreground, use of one projector). The second would be a square space of white curtains, a performer in mirror costume in the middle inside that square, 4 lights inside and 4 projectors facing the performer. In the first option, the audience walks and stands in front of the curtain/ screen and sees what is reflected on the sheet. In this way, I am the one who manipulates what they see as I make them see what I want since it is more static. In the second option, the audience walks around the square (curtained installation). They promenade in this space, see the reflections of the full costume, and as a result they interpret and understand what they wish or want to. In both installations, pictures will reveal themselves. Sound in option 1 would be accessed through headphones whereas, speakers will be used in the second option. In both proposals the interaction and participation of the audience is the final goal as it is in life where we interact/communicate with other people. Both installations would be a holistic scenographic visual metaphor which will provide a mode of sensation and awaken a space of unconsciously embodied experience. My project displaces the privileges accorded to mind over the body and materiality.
Breath - Beckett (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPzuW2Dzldg
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Installation-Structure II Installation-Structure I
Final Costume-Costume Detail
Movement
Projecting Shadows 15
Installation-Structure I (renders)
Installation-Structure II (renders)
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