Specters

Participatory performance in a shape of site-specific cinematic experience using laptop and smartphone to open up narrative of the piece.

I’ve been experimenting with new ideas and technology on the topic of ‘site specific cinema’ . The idea is to watch moving image material that have a direct relation to the site of watching. I was inspired by watching many films and having a slight deja vu when stumbling upon the places that the film was shot. I’m invited the participants to take over the narrative by encouraging them to contribute audio and video elements. The narrative will be structurally complete, but few critical information will be intentionally obscured to interpretations. Participants can change the story and meanings by creating video contents while experiencing the piece.

As a site specific performance, the piece utilizes mobile media devices such as laptop and smart phones to create an immersive experience of watching film that is shot at the site. The narrative of the piece is about feeling of presence, it questions how it feels to be in presence of someone. How to think about the moment of our life as a means of defying death or by embracing death. The narrative is inspired by the site of NYC Marble Cemetery, which I can see from my apartment but is only open twice a year to the general public. While the narrative is set on the border of boundary of reality and representation, it is firmly grounded on the site of the cemetery and the performance will happen in the site. Many aspects of the performance involves audience participation and engagement with the site, performer (artist) and other participants. By literally taking film out of the cinema house, I want to explore the possibility of creating a cinematic experience in the public space.

Special thanks to Zacahry Lieberman for helping with programming in Open Frameworks, Joe Shahadi for inviting his wonderful student from NYU Performance Studies department to participate in beta test. Some more photos are here.