schème

interactive choreographic installation

2001

Allegory of the multiple transformations of bodies invaded by technology. Dancers’ movement data control cameras, microphones, and architectural projections of 3D representations of each performance venue.

The choreographic installation schème presents two dancers/performers who interact with a visual and sound media environment. In scheme, the performers act, but they also “tele-act.” The doubling of their personalities takes away their sense of themselves and their body image. The choreographic installation presents four scenes made up of movement and media, proposing four distinct visions of the body, time and space. The relation to time, memory, and space emerged as dominant themes in this process.

The first scene [Extension of arms in a parallel world] plays with the theme of the invasion of the body by biotechnology, plastic surgery, and artificial intelligence. The second scene [Siamese twins connected to two illusory projected spaces] is a metaphor for the elimination of distance by the speeding-up of transportation and telecommunications. The third scene [Body suffocating in a temporal displacement] deals with the loss of meaning that occurs at the hands of transmission channels.The last scene [Fixed body without a head in a virtually-constructed environment] evokes the dissolution of physical presence by the use of telecommunications. The piece was presented throughout the world in galleries, theatres and other spaces, adapted in situ on all these occasions.

Credits

Concept and direction: Martin Kusch and Marie-Claude Poulin
Choreography: Marie-Claude Poulin
Performance: Marie-Claude Poulin and Line Nault
Media environment and installation: Martin Kusch,
assisted by Johan Versteegh
Sound environment: Alexandre St-Onge
Rehearsal direction: Sophie Michaud
Programming: Alexandre Burton
Lighting design: Philippe Dupeyroux
Production direction: David Poulin
Technical direction: Johan Versteegh

Co-production:

DieTheater Wien, Vienna
The Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art Science and Technology, Montreal
Society for technological arts [SAT], Montreal
Future Physical, London

Residency:

Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault, Montreal
MAI Interculturel, Montreal

With the support of:

Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Canada Council for the Arts,
Conseil des Arts de Montréal

Exhibitions / Shows

2003 Transmediale, HDK, Berlin / DE

2003 Transcodex, Petralata theater, Rome / IT

2003 Interatividades festival, Itau Culutral Venter, Sao Paulo / BR

2002 Dance Umbrella, ICA, London / UK

2002 ISEA2002, Nagoya / JP

2002 Imagetanz, DieTheater Wien, Vienna / AT

2002 Dance2002, Lothringer Halle, Munich / DE

2001 FIND, Agora de la danse, Montreal / CA

2001 Rose des Vents, Lille / FR

2001 Menagerie de Verre, Paris / FR