An Opera about computers - can we say date night!? It's almost like "Death and the Power's" was designed for eager Duane and Kelty Minds.
Just to spotlight some of the effects in this show: Algorithmic set pieces that moved of their own accord, floor-to-ceiling screens anthropomorphizing the main character after death, robots who gather to discuss the meaning of "grief", a scene with a woman speaking to a chandelier.
Yep, it all sounds a little bizarre, at best, but it was really stunning. The story was about a man who transposed his personality into "the system" meaning, at the time of his death, he put his personality and memories into a computer. Initially, his family members that were still alive weren't sure if the process really worked, that their loved one could actually 'live' in the machine. It becomes clear, however, that the man in the machine is actually living and dying to some extent.
I think what most interested me was the use of robots as actors. This show took ten years to create, and was initially inspired by an MIT professor who wanted to tell the story of an individual living through their machine. Below is a sneak peak if you are interested.
Best part of all: the theater at which this show debeuted is on our block! We caught the last show, but I think this production signals a transition to incorporating technology into our art forms.
1 comment:
It was quite a show! I think my favorite part was the beginning and ending, when the robots had to explain to the audience that they were performing a ritual re-enactment that they did not understand, but that their organic forebears commanded that they should do.
I think technology has always been incorporated into our art, and now, it is quite something to see our technology perform the art!
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