t.lab
2003
Part of the t.cap project which was initiated by Cristina Caprioli in 2003. Together with a group of performers/choreographers, we researched possibilities concerning the body and its relation to modern computing, algorithms, mathematics etc. The project spawned several choreographies. As an artist working with ideas related to computer science, I developed several concepts for the project and participated as a performer. We spent the entire scenography budget to repaint the black box performance space into a white cube. In this new space we performed several choreographic investigations. Two examples:
Particle Collisions in Four Directions is based on Stephen Wolfram’s cellular automata, particularly one which simulates movements of turbulence in fluids and gasses. This works with directional vectors, so it is directly applicable on movement generation. I wrote out an expanded set of cellular automaton rules, which included all combinations of collisions, as a score. We sit at a low table, read this score in realtime and perform it through a set of movement systems. The moves are very direct, based simply on transformations of the joints. The result is a very human choreography, sometimes brutal and primitive, sometimes very refined. We use all parts of our bodies including the tongue, in a completely concrete way, guided by the vectors in the score. Presumably this disables the most blatant dance habits, because the pattern recognition circuits in the brains of the spectators fabricate analogies to all kinds of human activities.
Towels started as an exploration of mathematical approaches to the idea of “folding”, and later took a turn towards collection and taxonomy of all possible methods to fold a towel. With a wink towards performances like Stomp or Tapdogs, Towels is performed in unison by four men, accompanied only by the sound of the folded towels.