Critical Paper - Unit 2
From traditionally going to one’s elder to ask questions to googling your answer in the internet, technology has affectively changed our lives, whether one agrees with it or not. I was born when the world is still in analog, and I still remember my grandparents first black and white television when I was five. Fast forward to the present day when one can watch view-in-demand television or film program in the palm of one’s hand. I am often bewildered how that big chunk of computer that is the size of the whole room in the 1970s to the current development of the nano technology. Being in the hybrid generation both culturally and digitally, I have experience the pros and cons of both worlds. I neither embrace it or are repulsed by it, but just try to fit in as my means to survival. In my performance piece, I try to illustrate on that idea, using people who is still analog and mixed in an semi-digital setting. Thereby, recording human behaviour in a enclosed environment.
I am twisting both traditional art and theatre experience by experimenting with merging interactive art installation with immersive theatre. In my previous experience, since I have been mostly worked as a commercial photographer, my work has been two-dimensional. I found myself after exhibiting in museums and galleries for the past six years somehow does not seem as interesting as when I am involved with community art. In the fine-art world, it seems that the same intellectual and cultural group of people goes regularly to museums and galleries. All the rest of the society usually presume that artists are “strange”. In the Far East, people generally presume art is a bourgeois affair and rightfully so in some respect. However, I am now beginning to think art should not be a secluded affair, it should include everyone, without regard to one’s background. I am attempting to make a piece that will be able to incorporate and include audience also as participants, in the hope that they can relate and enjoy art too. Designing a stage that everyone can be on it, the separation between the stage and audience dissolves. I have observed and studied how people with no art backgrounds react to art, and I have paid closer attention to them than art lovers. I found that when people look at an art piece, they will quickly move away and wander to something else they understand should they find they are not connecting with the piece. However, if I set a journey for one to go through by involving them, to interact or see themselves in the art installation, they will often find it amusing and smile. I do believe that would be what they remember and hopefully reflect upon in their later days. There is always a message to convey in my work, and for this research, which is about the never-ending questioning of our ephemeral human existence, with the goal, I hope to achieve, is to transcend the audience to a fourth dimension in actual time and space. Getting the message, based on that experience of themselves during the performance, is what I am trying to convey.
The reason for using the digitalised element by using projection mapping and interactive sensors is because I believe it will enhance the “magic” factor. Personally I have always enjoyed being transferred to another dimension, with dream like qualities, much like the book “Alice in Wonderland” and be the main character. I believe that people who goes to see art or theatre have a desire to be taken out of reality from their ordinary life. In a visit to Grayson Perry’s studio, I would have to agree with Perry when he said, “Art is entertainment in itself.”(Perry, March 10, 2016) I think the memory of the performance/installation will last longer in their memory should they become performers themselves. To be proactive rather than being passive, like sitting through films, plays, dances. By creating an experience that has included the audience, they also become part of that piece of artwork. One of my favourite artist Rafael-Lozano Hemmer (Hemmer, 2010) said, “People do like to look at themselves.” In one of his works, “Sandbox”, he sets up a computer with a live camera and a projector on a small sandbox, then a projector projecting a big projection on the other side of the Santa Monica beach at night. People could put a hand, for example, in the Sandbox, and it would be projected 50 times bigger on the other side of the beach. The beach on the other side would then have people walking around while reacting to the hand. There was also a live camera on the other end, so the people in the sandbox could see a live capture action. The audience in both in the sandbox and the beach react to each other. The piece was simply executed and has a certain playfulness of a theatre. I am hoping to work in this direction on the final project, and using research based on the neurological effects of the human brain when given something that is make believe, as in this example, the reaction of the humans reacting to the projected image.
Having referenced “Alice in Wonderland”, I would like to discuss the recent “Wonder.land” play in the National Theatre. I was utterly disappointed in this particular musical, and using digital enhancements did not help the play either. From the marketing perspective, one knows that shows based on a famous story guarantees a sizeable group of fans to go see it regardless, like me. Just when I thought using new technology in theatres has turned a new leaf and attract people that are more film goers, I think this one has used technology just for the sake of using it. In this play, the director twisted the original Alice in Wonderland story to a modern touch. A dark-skinned girl was chosen and was named Alice. Alice has an avatar named “Alice” with her ethnicity being white in the game called “Wonder.land”, which the main character is trying to escape to. In reality she came from a broken down family and was being bullied by the girls in her school. Initially it seems to be a reasonable storyline, but there were a lot of instances in the play that were rather incoherent. It was especially boring to me whenever Alice is in reality with her mother and drunk father. It was as colourless as the colour of their costume, which was grey. I can vaguely see there was a digital animation of an abstract garden with strange plants twirling around projected at the back of the stage throughout. The production must have spent a very long time and lots of money working on it, but I failed to see the content relating to the storyline. There were moments of triumph, like the caterpillar costume, that was an extravagant and fun costume, with LED patterns in his eye twirling around. He was the only performer with an excellent voice, but unfortunately the director assigned him only in small bits which makes little sense. The only other projection that I think vaguely worked for me was the Cheshire cat on the gauze material and Alice hanging behind the gauze in the opening scene. After seeing this musical, I learn that I need to really be cautious on using technology, as it proves that technology does not necessarily save the day.
Of the several plays that I’ve seen previously, my favourite will still have to be the “Curious Incident of the dead dog in the night”. The stage is extremely impressive with lot of traps and mysterious doors that are able to transform to a different scene. Projection mapping that actually works with the context of the play, as it is illustrating the autism boy’s head. When I was younger in Macau or San Francisco, I am not a keen go-er of theatre plays, because I often associated seeing performances with bad lighting and sound. Stage lighting was often very glaring, make-up was usually exaggerated and pasty. I found it rather creepy, and people shouting out lines has no apparent appeal to me. The “Curious incident” play has profoundly changed my point of view for theatre. The spine of the play is based on an autistic boy’s quest to find out who has brutally murdered his neighbour’s dog, a task that he assigned to himself as he is subconsciously using this task to vent out his frustration and anger concerning the disappearance of his mother. He has the hypothesis that if he were to be able to find out who killed the dog, he can find out what happened to his mother. This is a logic that most of us without autism will probably think is an irrational way of thinking, because we know that finding the killer does not equate to finding a mother.
The stage is a small square, and I loved how the theatre designer Bunny Christie wittingly uses projection as part of the execution to illustrate an object or thoughts. For example, she projected a chalk line rectangle with a number, assigns a performer in it and that indicated a house. When the boy walk around in the small stage, one can see that there are five neighbours and a street. The climax for me was when the projection of numbers are twirling around on four walls and the performer to indicate the boy’s turmoil and tries to calm himself down by counting prime numbers. That scene has a great impact on the audience. The stage also has numerous trap doors where the boy retrieves his train parts. The audience can see that he is laying out a track route for the toy train to run. The stunningly beautiful ending of the first part of the show is that as the boy finish his line and exits the stage, the train stations and buildings light up and the train moves with sound. Smoke can also be seen rising from the train’s chimney. It seems like magic, as it doesn’t look like anyone has flipped a switch at all. I found the whole play extremely intriguing and beautifully executed. There was not one single boring moment for the whole two hours. Digital media was also used wisely for this play.
In theatre, the relationship between the audience and the actor is separated by the stage, and both parties are willing to perform their corresponding roles. In life, as Evring Goffman argues “we do that socially in real life, despite lacking a formal script. We use our posture, facial expressions and tone of voice to put our roles for a specific circumstance or situation into what one feels should be the right position.”(Mimesis, 2006) From a young age, I often noticed that the world becomes a stage whenever one interacts with other people. I felt that life is a stage and we all play our roles and games, and if one is able to understand and the play the game well by acting or performing accordingly, one will win and get what one wants. The losers are the ones who failed to understand the game, and played it all wrong.
Rousseau argues that humans live to "make an impression on others.”(Mimesis,2006) I wouldn't want to admit it, but in the Chinese culture that I was brought up in, it is certainly true in many aspects. I observe that in Asian cultures, we lived mostly in one singular unit. One is not an individual, one always belongs to an invisible circle which one has to "perform" accordingly. I have always found that I was in some sort of stage playing a game as one of the actors in the society. When I was six, my grandmother told me that I need to wear a different mask for every occasion or situation that I am in, because that is the only way one will be able to run things smoothly or succeed. I resented that idea despite the love I have for her. I did not want to acknowledge my grandmother is a hypocrite, in the same way I feel about actors and performers. But as I grew older, especially when I have to run around persuading people to get me jobs, I finally acknowledge what my grandmother was talking about, as I realise that if I know what "play" I am in, and if I perform correctly, I will get my reward. A further complication to the scenario is that working with different cultures, I have to fit in to that culture and play a different "play" each time. The process is of trial and error, and I’ve encountered and gone through many failures to get one right.
I question if the only position where one is not acting would be when one is in your own private space. But that might still not be entirely true either, as there might be a possibility that one performs a different role with oneself when alone. Goffman mentions "although we tend to believe that we are mostly ourselves in private life, our inner self is a crop generated by our social performances. The self is a mere peg”.(Mimesis, 2006) As I understand a little more about the terms in the stage position, for example, an actor's stage left is the audience stage right, I found it quite interesting that it is much like a camera obscura. So in reality, if I am performing in actuality like in an upside down mirror, should I be re-evaluating everything in life again?
In life, one is merely following one’s parents or peers on what would one do when being put on stage. I question that if the human race is just copying and have a tendency to copy. Are we merely clones? But there must be only one leading, the one who is actually awake while the rest of us are dormant in our sleep as we live our lives?
Potolsky argues that western art has this fixation on traditional copying the traditional reality, while in the East, art is often abstract.(Mimesis, 2006) I do notice that Rembrandt or Da Vinci's paintings seemed to be very detailed and realistic, while Chinese paintings are mostly quick abstract brush strokes. Thinking about it philosophically and being ethnically Chinese with a western upbringing, that is something to think about. I can't say much about other traditions, but I guess in some ways traditional Chinese approach to life is more about merging oneself with the universe than being one individual in relation to space and time. Times have changed with globalisation. There are prominent signs of western thinking in young Asian minds now. I asked my young Chinese engineer friend about how she feels about her generation, she said that most Chinese are becoming more selfish and think about themselves more than family or society.
In the RSA Iain McGilchrist video, he talks about the human’s divided brain. The left and the right hemisphere, he points out “the left is more focus and attention to detail, while the right is more vigilant in their own surroundings.” He believes “in the western society, the left hemisphere of the brain is taking over the right hemisphere.” He is rather concerned that we lived in a paradoxical world. “ We pursue happiness but we get resentment and an explosion of mental illness. We get freedom but we are actually in trapped freedom as we are monitored by more and more CCTV. We have more information and yet we know less and less.” (McGilchrist, 2011)
On reflection concerning McGilchrist statement, I have noticed that the western cultural attitude throughout the ages, always seems to think when one thing is right, the other thing must be wrong. Whereas in Chinese philosophy, there is generally a paradox in everything one says. As a young girl, after attempting to understand the logic of Taoism from a comic book, I spoke to my mother thoughts about the The Tao philosophy. To my surprise, she seemed to despise these philosophic thinkings, because she said all Chinese sayings go both ways. For example, In the United States , one says, "You snooze, you lose." But there is no other saying that rivals against the saying. But in Chinese, one say, "If you lose out being the first, it is worst than losing your family honours." But then the opposite also said, "If you go first, you are likely to die first." In Chinese philosophy and also Chinese medicine, everything is Yin and Yang. The Chinese believed things were believed to be there for a reason to achieve this balance, sometimes humans may not come to understand and when disrupt that balance, disaster will follow.
The current big question about theatre and media in this 21st century is whether they are rivals or partners? My first apple computer was introduced when I was in university. The only function for that computer is simply replacing the typewriter, capable of making numerous revisions without wasting another piece of paper, be able to saved it and print on demand. My parents generation comes strictly from an analog world, which still writes by hand with a pencil or pen. The newer generation in this century is already typing on their smartphone when they were born. I have seen 3 year old child playing games very well on the iPad or iPhone. I also found they are much quicker in picking up softwares and working on the computer than my generation. I was born right in between analog and digital generation. We have experience both working in both medium, so I believe we are the hybrid generation that could fully appreciate the best of both worlds. Coming from that background I think some things work better in analog and others work better in digital. In my creative practice, the inter-activity of the installation I am trying to set up is a theatrical setting with both analog and digital elements, much like the world we are living in at the moment. It would be quite similar to the “Curious Incident” play, which uses traditional theatre setting mixed with digital projection.
Grayson Perry also states, “Digital technology is a good patient servant.”(Perry, 10.3.2016) If use wisely, it can improve one’s life. I have to admit that I am prone to gadgets, but I also dislike the coldness of the machines sometimes. I observe that our human self that “humans mime only better humans in the hope of being better human themselves.” (Mimesis, 2006). While scientists and engineers around the world are working hard to perfect the world by providing the technology needed to help humans, that perfection has reached a point that the world has becoming colder, like technology itself. In my photography world, since switching to digital photography, one does not require to be as skilfully technical as we once were. Fashion magazines skew photographs using Photoshop and change the model to an idealised human form. The result is a deformed clone doll. As precision is more achievable, we found ourselves relating more to the flawed.
To conclude, I believe mixing analog with digital can be partners and fill the each other's gap. I believed that technology can only help to do things what human cannot do it physically. With the technology and internet today, we talked about globalisation. Controversially, as the internet unites us, I also see a growing number of younger generation who wants to preserve their own culture old traditions and embrace our difference instead. If we are really able to be one single peaceful human family, that would seem to be utopia in some respect, but I suspect it might be a featureless and dull. If all myths are fundamentally the same, it proves that we are all just one human race asking the same questions. Myths have existed since the dawn of time, I believe scientists and engineers are still trying to figure out the unanswered questions, which is "Why are we here?” Rather than a traditional theatre context, I am using theatrical settings to view the audience interacting with others and machine in a anthropological context, much like the “Sandbox” installation situation.
Bibliography
Hemmer, Rafael Lozano. (2010), Glow festival, Santa Monica Beach, Santa Monica, USA, http://www.lozano-hemmer.com/sandbox.php
McGilchrist, Iain, (2011), RSA Animate, The Divided Brain, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFs9WO2B8uI (Accessed: 28 April, 2016)
Potolsky, M. and Potolsky, M. (2006) Mimesis. pg 89,90, 93 United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis