Vital LMTD at the Street Theatre

I've finished a season of Vital LMTD at the Street Theatre in Canberra with Last Man to Die. We performed five shows from 24th - 30th of October and had a great time! Review here.

In this show, Hanna Cormick, Benjamin Forster and myself take the roles of aristocratic scientists (from the future?). As we argue over the definition, meaning and creation of life, we explain our ideas through pieces that combine all of our artforms, creating unexpected interactions and fun experiments into acting, visual art and percussion.

The show featured beautiful projected visualisations by Benjamin, as well as live drawing (mark making?) on an overheard projector; innovative mask theatre and live mask creation by Hanna; and electronic percussion and soundtracks by myself on MalletKat, electronic drumset, Ableton Live, Apple Mainstage, Pure Data and SuperCollider.

For myself and Benjamin, this show was a huge experiment in synchronising gestures and events between the computer based parts of our artforms, our computers were constantly in contact via OSC messages so that we could react to events in the other's artwork. Many of the props in the show also became controllers through the use of our computer vision surface (running ReacTIVision), a Wiimote and the Arduino Heartbeat Sensor. I'm still slightly amazed that we got through the season without any serious train-wreck errors or other serious mistakes on stage. A lot of credit for this should go to our helpful directors/friends Michael Bailey and David Shaw as well as our friends at Belconnen Arts Centre who provided an excellent deal on a studio for two weeks of intensive development!

+ Special thankyou our audience and many new friends who engaged us with great questions!

Cognition

Cognition is an audio/visual performance inspired by the possibilities and consequences for humanity of near-future technologies.

Human reliance on technology to augment our lives is inescapable. Our pre-human ancestors used simple digging and cutting tools, large-scale societies are due to the emergence of agriculture and domesticated animals, and now, among other advancements, world-wide computer networks have allowed instantaneous and near perfect communication for much of the human race. This technology has become ubiquitous within a single human life span.
Such fantastic progress in only a few short decades has prompted some futurists to predict that in a few decades, computers will be advanced enough to connect to a human brain directly or even to upload and simulate a human mind. Could we live forever inside a computer?
Another striking prediction is the idea of a singularity of technological advancement. If it took humanity thousands of years to develop agriculture, hundreds to develop efficient worldwide transport, decades to develop miniature electronic circuits and only a few years to develop ubiquitous computer networks, what next? The singularity is when our rate of technological advancement has increased to infinity. Will we have truly sentient computers? A complete understanding of genetics and our own biochemistry? Any of these possible technologies would have disquieting consequences for humanity.
Cognition has been created by the Hunting Season 2008's cross-artform collaborators. We are actors, musicians, programmers, sculptors, visual artists and writers who have been generously invited to create a unique performance that combines elements of all of our skills and experiences.

Creators:
Hanna Cormick - movement, vocals
Michael Ellis - movement, vocals
Benjamin Forster - live visuals
Emma Gibson - writing
Charles Martin - improvised and pre-recorded music
Sally McKittrick - costume design, sculpture, lullaby

David Shaw - lighting, set design and technical operation

Special Thanks:
Hunting Season Directors:
Ben Drysdale
Michael Bailey
Alley McGregor
Belconnen Community Services
ANU School of Music, New Media Laboratory

Other Collaborators:
Christina Hopgood - pre-recorded vocals