ADelinquentSystemAesthetic

Punchdrunk’simmersivetheatreas

distributedspace-making

Selectionofworks

•  TheFirebirdBall

•  Faust

•  TheCrashoftheElysium

•  TheDuchessofMalfi

•  TheMasqueoftheRedDeath

•  SleepNoMore

•  TheDrownedMan

•  Kaberoi

TheDrownedMan:

AHollywoodfable

•  2013/2014

•  OldSortingOffices,Paddington(London)

•  170installationrooms(fullyrealised)

•  14,000m2

•  https://youtu.be/DZKNNMombV8

Structure

•  12performancezones

•  12timeperiods@5minutes

•  3cycles@1hr(firstonebegins15minsin)

•  35actors(TDM)–rotatingcast

•  c.50‘BlackMasks’

•  600audiencemembers/night(inthedark)

•  Thebuildinvolvednearly500peoplefrombeginningtoend,with90

peoplerequiredfortherunningoftheshoweachday

DifferenceandRepetition

“Becauseofcourse,it’stheatre,likeanytheatre,andyouwanttocreatethisillusionofrepeating

universe,thiscloseduniversethatrepeatsitself.Butalsotheaudienceisexcitedbythefactthatit’s

live.Theaudienceisexcitedbythefactthatit’shappeningnow,andit’sthattension,oneofmany

formsoftensions,thatisinteresting,andexcitingfortheaudience.Thefactthatitisdifferenteach

time,eachsceneisdifferenteachtime,evenifyouareaimingforitnottobe.Becauseit’stheatre,and

it’slive,andit’smessyandtheaudienceisunpredictable,soyoukindofcan’thelpitthatit’sdifferent

onthethirdloopfromthefirstloop,it’sadifferentkindofenergy.[…]Youknow,theshowwouldn’t

happen,oritwouldn’tbeasgoodasitwas,ifitweren’tforpeoplecreatinginperformance,and

makingthesediscoverieswitheachother.Itwouldn’thaveanyofthatfantasticposition,becausewe

wouldn’thavehadthatmanydetails.Mostofthedetailswouldcomefromexperienceofperforming

theshow,andthentheybecomedecisionsthatareset,butatthesametimeit’snotanimprovisation

oftheshow.”

(COM-M-15092014)

Replicableformulae

•  Highinitialinvestmentoftimeandeffort

•  Scalabilitythroughrepetition,withtheinvestmentofagencyand

experiencebyeachparticipantbuildingexperiencepotential

•  Fundamentallydifferenttothe‘generality’approachtoscalability

(followingDeleuze),whichbydefinitionisreductive

•  Automationisnotinandofitselfreductive,but:

•  Weneedtothinkabouthowwemodelparticipation/participantsin

interactivesystems–AGENTvs.AGENCY

Participation

ModellingAGENCYratherthanAGENTS?

Algorithmicparticipation

“Idefinitelyfeltlikemostofthedecisions,likethecontrolwaskindof

insomebodyelse’shands,andIhadadiminishedcontrol[…]Like

beingaspectatorandanactorallatonce[…]thestuffyoudohaveto

decideoniscompletelypersonal,butwhereyourbodyisn’t[…]I

wantedtobeinthemachine,inthesoftware,Iwantedtoworkwith

thealgorithm,howeveryouwanttoputit.Iwantedtofunction,I

didn’twanttobetheglitchthatwasinthebar,Iwantedtofunction

alongwiththerestofthemachinethatwasgoingon,thatwasalsoa

narrative.”

(AUD-F-03072014)

BlackMasks

•  Hiddenwithintheset–actingasextensionsoftheset;the

edgesofthedesignedexperience(quasi-objects/subjects)

•  Methodologiesdesignedtomaintain–evenextend–the

narrative,andnotdisruptimmersion

•  Designingforedgecases,notonlyforthenorm;

incorporatingcriseswithinourdesignschema

•  Criticalfordistributedsystemsthatmeshwiththe

connectivetissuesofoursharedworld

ExampleofBlackMasktechnique

“It’sverycalm;almostlikesomeone’sabouttobrushpastyou.Andthenyou

can…whatwenormallydo,isgoingupbehindthem,handsontheir

shouldersandgrip,andjustgentlypullback,andyougetthemtomove.[…]

Andtherewasanotherthingwhereifyouwantedtowalkwithsomeone,you

couldsortofrun…so,putyourarmdown,justputyourarmdownbyyour

side.Youwoulddothatandjustleadthem,keepthatelbowcontact,soall

yourforearmistouching,ratherthanleadingthemlikekidsinprimary

school.You’rekeepingthemquiteclosetoyou,andyouwouldbeableto

steerthemaswell,withthatforearmcontact.”

(COM-M-27092014)

Postdigitaldimensions

•  WhiletheeffectsofBlackMaskinterventionisprofound,the

functionitselfcanbedefinedwithinrelativelynarrowparameters

ineachlocalityornodeoftheinteractivesystem

•  HowdowemodelAIwithininteractivesystems?IstheCartesian

conceptanymoreusefulforAIthanitisforourselves?Whatcanwe

learnfromtheBlackMaskfunction?

•  AIforedgecasedesignnarratives–andinnarrativedesign

Experientialspaceindetail

“[…]youcan’ttakeinthatpictureinanyonegaze.Theaudiencehastolookthisway

andlookthatway,butwithoutWendy’spresencethere:seeingtheorgythroughher

eyes,becauseherlookingatit,andactuallymycharacterlookingatherlookingatit;

that’swherethemeaningofthesituationis.[…]youcantailorthepitchofyour

performancetotheirdecisionssothatiftheycomeveryclose,evenifyou’restill

playingthegameofinvisibilitywiththem,oryouknow,you’rekeepingupthis

pretencethatyoucan’tseethem[…],soyoumight,ifyouhavetheleeway,youhave

theliberty,youmightdecidetobringthepitchofyourperformancedowntoavery

subtle,closeupkindoflevel,sothatyou’regivingthemsomethingthattheyknowis

justforthem.It’sagift,youknow,asmallgift,youmightimprovisesomethingthat’s

very…inresponsetotheircloseness.”

(COM-M-15092014)

Detailsupportsimmersion

•  Allinterviewedaudiencemembersmentioned,

unprompted,thattheattentiontodetailsupported

theirabilitytoyieldtoimmersion(theimmersive

state)

•  Interactionsbetweenaudiencesandtheset,the

actors,andtheBlackMasksaredesignedwith

extremeattentiontodetail–whichcarriestheillusion

Effectivenessvs.efficiency

“Thismachinicvitalityisnotsomuchaboutdeterminism,inbuilt

purposeorfinality,butratheraboutbecomingandtransformation.

ThisintroducesaprocessthatDeleuzeandGuattaricall‘becoming-

machine’,inspiredbytheSurrealists’‘bachelormachines’,meaninga

playfulandpleasure-pronerelationshiptotechnologythatisnot

basedonfunctionalism.ForDeleuzethisislinkedtotheprojectof

releasinghumanembodimentfromitsindexationonsocialised

productivitytobecome‘bodieswithoutorgans’,thatistosaywithout

organisedefficiency.”

(Braidotti,2013:91-92)

Postdigitalefficiency?

•  MovingbeyondCartesianrationality

constructs

•  Embracingedgecasedesign–and‘inefficient’

detail–toexpandexperiencepotential

•  Scalabilitythroughreplicableformulae,rather

thanthroughreductivegenerality

“Iknowit'sforentertainment,butitneededtoexist.Anditfeltlikethisculminationoflikesomany

differenttalents,andtheymust'vebeeninfluencedbysomanyotherdifferenttalentsoverthecourse

oftheircareers,whowere,youknowagain,goingback.Soitwaslike,itfeltlike,mytinylittlepinpoint

experienceofit,itfeltlikeitwassuch,Idon'tknow,Ijustfeltatthesametimesominiscule,mylittle

eyeslookingatthisthing,butsoinfiniteatthesametime.Andthenkindof,quitethankful?Butalso,it

wasprobablyjustkindoflike,joyfulimmersion,aswell–likeforcedimmersion.[…]ifpeoplecanmake

youfallofftheclifffaceofconsciousness,thenyoudropintothispooloflike,eternaloneness.[…]I’m

notanew-agehippieperson,Iwouldn'tevenknowwhatthatwouldbe.Butlike,Ibelieveinthe

languageofthesethings,youkindofdropintothispoolofinfiniteoneness,andthat'swherewecame

frombeforeweexisted,andthat'swherewe'regoingbackto.AndIfeellike,whenyoufalloffintothis

like,excitement,it'swarmerandlessscary.AndIfeellikewhentheworldstops,likegenerallywhen

youfallinloveorwhenyouexperiencerealart,itfeelsjustliketimestops–there'snooutside.There's

noyesterday,there'snotomorrow,andyou’rejustkindoffloatingthroughspace.Andit'slike“aaah,

it’sok”[laugh]”

(AUD-M-11072014)

Futuredevelopments

•  Scriptinginteractionwithexquisiteattention

todetailtoextendexperientialspace

•  Re-thinkingthemodellingofbothAIand

humanagents/agencyininteractiondesign

•  Designingforthepostdigitalsublime

Thankyou!

CarinaWestling

ceiwestling@gmail.com

c.e.i.westling@sussex.ac.uk

carina.westling@rhul.ac.uk

@carinawestling