Filmed by Carole Kim, edited by Christine Marie.
(antiquated) AUGMENTED REALITY. (Director: Christine Marie, Producer: Nion McEvoy) — Visual intimacy, ontological form, in real-time 3D. Pioneering the use of a non-digital, reinvented, pre-cinematic stereo imaging technique, the exquisite ensemble of dancers seems to do the impossible — reach out. The vivid choreography and score leave a lasting impression created by giant 30-foot tall, stunning figures. Cast: Taylor Unwin, Sandra Ruiz, Melissa Ferrari. Original compositions by Daniel Corral. Additional music tracks by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Laraaji with permission.
The impetus for creating (antiquated) Augmented Reality, began by acknowledging the ability of the shadow stereoscope to transform a 2D shadow image into 3D. This lent to a symbolic, kinetic enactment of modern media’s departures from the male gaze; a flat feminine form transforms into a fully dimensional one as she breaks the screen and walks out of a "television set." Combined with the Fordist notion of the feminine form as a mass-produced consumer good the work sets up choreographed repetitive motions that are broken by the ability to reach into the z-axis to create gestures of intimacy.
(a)AR, was created directly after the McEvoy commission of Shadows in Stereo. As I watched the dancers in the MFA gallery the theme of liberation repeated itself through various movements. I discovered that the form has an innate and rare ability to create gestures of intimacy by extending an arm out-and-around a viewers' head or seemingly caress their face. While at the REDCAT theater, with a new group of dancers, a choreographer and composer we worked to develop the dance performance.
The Many Gazes, image bank for TV section, and for Marilyn section are dramaturgical materials used for our research. In one section a dancer deconstructs Marilyn Monroes' seductive cinematic poses. For another section titled TV, the dancer toggles between faces of evangelists, workout gurus and salesman in rapid succession before pulling the screens from the set and joining the other feminine forms outside the box.