An interactive online experience comprising music, dance, animation, and projection art, the piece invites the viewer to craft their own performative journey through four short, pre-recorded \u2018choose your own adventure\u2019 style performances. The project is a collaborative effort conceptualised and directed by Louise Coetzer and Inka Kendzia (who also handled the projection, visual effects, and compositing), with music by Brydon Bolton, Mr Sakitumi, Shane Cooper, and Matthijs van Dijk. A team of dancers is choreographed by Coetzer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Upon opening the video, viewers are presented with four stories, each one bearing a single word title \u2013 Evolution, Rebirth, Transfiguration, and Alteration. \u2018Evolution\u2019 opens with the profile of dancer Farnel Smart who, following a brief glance at the camera, launches into a scene of fluid, expressive movements complimented by the ambient and ethereal sounds of Van Dijk. Like all the performances, it is rendered in grayscale and features a number of visual disruptions in the form of projected imagery, digital glitches, and animated flourishes playing out alongside \u2013 and oftentimes in competition with \u2013 the human performer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A minute or so passes before the performance tapers\noff and two words appear on screen: \u2018self\u2019 and \u2018other\u2019. You are expected to\nchoose. I pick \u2018self\u2019 and watch as Smart is joined by another dancer as well as\nnumerous 3D renderings of them. The backdrop for the performance has grown\nsignificantly darker, and Van Dijk\u2019s sounds have taken on a comparable tone,\nreplete with sharp, moody stabs of the piano. Two words appear again:\n\u2018Expanding\u2019 and \u2018Unfolding\u2019. I choose the latter and the performance reverts to\nits white backdrop and adopts a lighter, if not slightly frenetic musical\ntempo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it goes with META | m o r p h<\/em>. Each choice\na narrative fork in the road, each word carrying its own thematic\nrepercussions. The remaining performances follow the same format and, while\nthey may come off as monotonous through a cursory viewing, each distinguishes\nitself through its lead performers, musicians, and general temperaments. Those\nfamiliar with the jazz and electronic improvisations of Shane Cooper, for\nexample, will immediately note the double bassist\u2019s hand in \u2018Transfiguration\u2019.\nSimilarly, the sparse percussive work and sweeping electronic soundscapes\ngenerated by Sean Ou Tim aka Mr Sakitumi, lend \u2018Alteration\u2019 a certain cinematic\nquality, complimenting Christopher Sherwood-Adcock\u2019s slow, intuitive movement\nwonderfully. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While META | m o r p h <\/em>positions itself \u201cat\nthe intersection between art and technology\u201d, how do the two get along,\nexactly? The polished effects that come about through a filmed and edited\nphysical performance do not always work in the favour of these pieces, and at\ntimes can come across as stylised advertisements or showreels for dance. The\nuse of projected imagery and 3D animation, when used sparingly, makes for some\ntruly beautiful moments, however. Being able to witness a performer\u2019s body\nmultiply and fill the confines of the screen, or to see a dancer perform a duet\nwith their ghost, leaving an effervescent, digital trail in their wake are only\na few of the possibilities of a physical performance in the digital realm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, it is physicality that endures in these\nperformances. Music, editing, projection, and animation may punctuate and\nelevate what we see, but it is the human body in motion that drives the\nnarrative and holds the emotion throughout these works. Possibly, it is the\npower to craft one\u2019s own story through the \u2018choose your own adventure\u2019 format\nof META | m o r p h<\/em> that serves as the best endorsement of the marriage\nbetween technology and performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Watch META | m o r p h <\/em><\/strong>here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Credits: Concept & Direction<\/strong>: Inka Kendzia & Louise Coetzer An interactive online experience comprising music, dance, animation, and projection art, the piece invites the viewer to craft their own performative journey through four short, pre-recorded \u2018choose your own adventure\u2019 … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":4019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[2,1001,10],"tags":[1004,1003,1006,1005,1002],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4012"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4012"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4037,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4012\/revisions\/4037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Music<\/strong>: Brydon Bolton, Mr Sakitumi, Shane Cooper, Matthijs van Dijk
Choreography<\/strong>: Louise Coetzer
Projection Art, Visual Effects & Compositing<\/strong>: Inka Kendzia
Performed by<\/strong>: Christopher Sherwood-Adcock, Farnel Smart, Mukovhe Monyai, Carla Scholtz, Gabriel Mehlomakhulu
Lidar Scan & 3D<\/strong>: Jason Stapleton
Videography<\/strong>: Oscar O\u2019Ryan & Inka Kendzia
Edit<\/strong>: Oscar O\u2019Ryan
Coding<\/strong>: Lasse Manson <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"