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Separate
performance/installation series |
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"Separate" is
a technology enhanced performance project created to
take place in the streets and parks in New York City.
"Separate" comprises two similar performers, clad in white jumpsuits,
each starting at one of two city parks. Each has a video projector slung around
his neck, projecting an animated b/w video onto the path ahead of him, as he
walks. They each pull a weighted milk crate, behind them, on a rope. The contents
of the crate are unknown, inside a black garbage bag. The animations show a homeless
character walking and crawling on the streets of New York. The performers make
slow progress, pulling their burdens, constantly with their eyes on the projection
just ahead of their feet. They pass each other en route, without acknowledgement,
and continue on to the park that the other had left. |
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They
settle down for the night on a bed of newspapers, with
projections dancing on and around them. The performance
ends when the light of a new day bleaches out the projections.
SEPARATE is a multimedia artwork that addresses issues of homelessness, disenfranchisement
and isolation. It raises concern about the burden of trying to exist in an increasingly
technological society, where identity is reliant on participation. |
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"Separate" is
a performance series that mixes technology with live
action performance. The struggle of the performers, as
they follow their predestined paths, is enhanced by the
animated imagery projected onto the ground ahead of them.
Images of individual struggle are projected into this
live scene of a man pulling a weight. With the metaphorical
weight of the world in tow, each performer makes slow
progress in solitude, not noticing another in a similar
struggle. Upon reaching his destination, he rests, ironically
in the same spot recently vacated by the man he just
passed, who, in turn, currently inhabits the spot the
first just left. It implies a continuum of changing locations,
a migration from one point to another in an endless struggle
to take rest from the burdens of the world and of the
individual.
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The
projections continue through the night, saturating each
performer until dissipated by the advent of a new day.
While this might represent a new beginning, we also must
recognize the inevitable approach of another night. The
use of the newspapers as protection from the ground and
wind, indicate the character's complete absorption in,
and link to, the world outside of his isolation. The
movements of forces beyond his control which invisibly
affect his life, represented by the newspapers, become
a source of comfort, though provide scant protection
against the local troubles of his existence. |
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buttons below to view each of the 4 performances |
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