We were invited by Dance Nucleus in late November 2021, we only have months to make this piece together and “ready” for the show. It was stressful months. As I was waiting for my new laptop to arrived, and to find new visual and experimenting with new generative tool to create visual and meaning for the show. I let Gade to direct the structure of the work and I follow her,
As my life becomes hectic from projects and house renovation. I don’t have time to think through and process, all in front of me.
Once we have structure, then we slowly trying to create details and transition in each parts. Sound and visual cues slowly build up. I was also trying to develop more visuals but later we narrow it down to what’s necessary to be shown. I’m worry that the vqgan clip that I used will be outdate and the visual will look old. Catching up with the technology is challenge for the piece. And to bring in vr. When we tried to use it in powerful computer it has less problem than low spec vr headset quest 2 that struggle to handle high graphic elements in spatial.
We had participants prepared and join the show on stage with us. As we planned to improvise with live audiences, but with covid restriction in sg, we then have participants prepared, it made our structure easier to handle and better for the cue. Still participants struggle to use hand gesture to control headset and navigate themselves into Digital Shrine in spatial room is difficult in flashing light condition.
I create sound and effect from the video I took at temples and some from online, it is low quality with not so clear and also noisy with other sound. Chee wai told me, the imperfection of it that made it’s interesting. I want to make it perfect sound at first but I couldn’t do it. This is another aspect to think about the imperfection of the details in sound.
Beside from control audio and visual, I am the host of the shrine, I perform and engage with audiences to invite them and keep their attention. Daniel suggested that I don’t have to seek audiences attention all the time, at first I tried to improvise but I stuck and could improvise. Later I wrote down my own script trying to make it a rhyme, but turn out that I make my own rhyme joke, that has to be question for its seriousness for the show, people laugh but do we want it.
Gade was creating high art, precision choreograph, I was relaxing and cracking joke, telling people about Hatthi and selling chicken and zebra. the contrast of the energy that I
The floor projection was difficult to see. I want to create more interactive visual and generative projection mapping, but the technology isn’t ready yet. And I start to doubt the necessary for using them in the show.
The ar part somehow need to be success in bringing live audiences into the Shrine, but inside shrine itself, struggling seems to make imperfection as reflection for the believe and creating intense anticipation for the success which is not. The ending part is still question if we should try to make the wish fulfilled or tell them it’s unsuccessful today.
When the qr code come up without tell them, everyone pull out their phone to scan. Perhaps in the future we can let audiences play part in constructing scene for the dancer to perform. Audiences is part of creation of the piece. ‘I like this idea’, I always like participatory and distribute the ownership. But this also can make the presentation of the works become unpredictable, which is not good and not bad.
I used Sound plant for Sound
for visual I use Vqgan clip to generate visual and animation
Synesthesia for audio reactive
obs for scene change
air server for connecting Gade phone to my phone
spatial for metaverse
vdmx for mixing visual and transition for all things together
I still find some transition need to be smoother but I couldn’t make it as I want yet. Also some layer opacity in vdmx need to be update.