VIRTUAL (LIVING) ROOM

VR performance | 22 min | 2020

ABOUT

Kadri Sirel, a charismatic dancer of Estonian origin, and Zelda, a fictional character conceived as a fictional artificial intelligence have designed a mind-map of their own. Together, Kadri and Zelda try to solve the mystery behind the process of remembering a choreography spontaneously created, but never properly presented. Built with irony and relaxation, the relationship between the two is dynamic and uncertain. The presence of the public raises questions about how a performance should be viewed and what is the role of each participant in this exchange of information and emotions.

virtual (living) room is a script-based performance, a cyber fake about girls, dance and inner spaces. Sometimes deep and poetic, sometimes self-ironic and pragmatical, the work is a conversation about the act of remembering what a movement felt like when it was first created. The process of making the piece becomes the subject of the piece itself, in a dialogue performed with humour and empathy. The spectacular is purposely deconstructed, being replaced with a simple 360 black void environment that leaves space for new ideas to emerge.

THE INSTALLATION

one-to-one interactive VR object based installation

The meeting between Kadri, Zelda and the audience opens a space of imagination in which small objects are related to pieces of their mind-map. Every time the audience chooses an object, the system triggers another memory. The installation is conceived as a puzzle of white miniature figurines in a photographic black-box, while the audience is challenged to remap the process of the performance in a non-chronological order. The installation was created in collaboration with Hochschule Düsseldorf – University of Applied Sciences and LAVAlabs Studio Dusseldorf and was based on a system of sensors that connected the VR experience with the physical sensoriality of the real-life objects.

THE PERFORMANCE

22 minutes continuous VR experience

Kadri and Zelda meet in a 360 black void to discuss methods of remembering a dance created almost a year ago in Tallinn. The audience is seated on mobile chairs, allowing them to spin around the axis. The video is optimised for Oculus Go and headsets, but can also be used on other VR devices. The performance was designed with the help of VR specialist Marius Cătălin Hodea, while the animations are signed by visual artist Ioana Trușcă. The sound is ambisonic, enabling an immersive experience.

PREMIERE

Sept 2020 -> Installation @LAVAlabs (Dusseldorf, DE)

Nov 2020 -> Performance @Switch Lab (Bucharest, RO)

MAKERS

Concept by Simona Deaconescu / Scripted and directed by Simona Deaconescu & Cristian Pascariu / Choreography by Simona Deaconescu & Kadri Sirel / Performed by Kadri Sirel / Drawings by Ioana Trușcă / Music by Raul Masu / 360 video compositing & video camera Marius Cătălin Hodea / DOP fixed camera Radu Gorgoș / Sound engineer and foley artist Sebastian Zsemlye / Colorist digital Mircea Crivoi / Executive producer Andrei Stehan / Project coordinator Laura Trocan / Technology development Mai Tan, Leon Marc Schoeder, Thien Nga / Installation design Donika Karachorska / Installation coordination Jochen Feitch, Ivana Druzetic / Consultants Nuno Do Nascimento Correia, Jochen Feitsch / Special thanks André Carrilho

PARTNERS

The project is produced by Tangaj Dance Association and co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. The project partners are Hochschule Düsseldorf – University of Applied Sciences, LAVAlabs Studio Dusseldorf, Antares International (scaune.ro). The project does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the project results can be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the funding. The idea behind “virtual (living) room” was born in 2019, when choreographer Simona Deaconescu, the artist who signs the performance concept, was selected as a resident artist of the European program Moving Digits – Augmented Dance for Engaged Audiences, in which she benefited from residencies creation at Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava (Tallinn, Estonia) and tanzhaus nrw (Dusseldorf, Germany), a project co-financed by Creative Europe – Culture Subprogramme, 2018 – Education, Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

MAKING OFF