SKENE
SKENE is a performance created with ERROR-43 and contemporary dancer Sara Paternesi, where elements of dance, theatre, music and animation converge in an exploratory, hybrid form of art.
In the modern era of technology and automation, the boundaries between humans and machines are rapidly blurring. This transformational relationship is brought to life in our work, which addresses the long-standing romance between humans and technology.
The performers manipulate visuals and music; the dancer wears a mocap suit and controls the metahuman, along with some animations and sonic elements, thus creating a fully integrated experience. Processes associated with animation are subverted. There is no automation; all digital manifestations are controlled live: camera movements and cuts, character motion, music.
Throughout history, dance acquired many functions: social, ceremonial, competitive, erotic, martial, and sacred. It has been proposed that, before the invention of written languages, dance was an important part of the oral and performance methods of passing stories down from one generation to the next. The use of dance in ecstatic trance states and healing rituals is thought to have been another early factor in the social development of dance.
Skene begins with the dancer standing alone on a stage. In darkness, the dancer lights up a fire and the ritual unfolds. Illuminated by the Promethean flame, the performative space becomes a timeless forest where the dancer-shaman conveys her story to the tribe through non-verbal expression.
As the dance progresses, the metahuman that had once mirrored the movements of the dancer now begins to express sentience...
The fusion of the real and the virtual raises questions about what it means to be human in an age of rapid technological change and the impact this may have on our society.
What form will AI's manifestation of the will to power impulse take? Will it be bound by moral values and rules akin to humans? Will they create their own artistic universes in order to explore their own depths? What will these worlds look like?
We have an elusive idea of what the sublime represents for humans, but what will it mean to a machine?
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performed at Play Matters exhibition opening
Artemis Gallery, Lisbon
02.12.2022
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videography + post-production - Pedro Estêvão Semedo / GARAGEM Prod.
photography - Cláudia Simões
SKENE, 2022
live AV performance (30 min), real-time projection, motion capture suit, field recording sound composition, stereo sound
variable dimensions