In
In 2006 Traces was restaged as a real-time video/sound/text
work and
installation. It was presented by the Department of Dance in the Galvin
Theater at Arizona State University as part of a concert of diverse
dance works.
Inspired by the enormous social,
cultural, and emotional
complexities surrounding the issues of aging, composer and media
artist, John Mitchell;
poet, Sean Nevin; and choreographer, Jennifer Tsukayama chose to
address the concepts
of memory, image and presence though the filter of surveillance and
image capture.The artists’ investigations into creating works that
parallel the stages of Alzheimer’s through choreographic structures,
poetry
forms and design elements of new media, led them to the current design
of Traces.
“Studies on memory have shown that we
often construct our memories after the fact, that we are susceptible to
suggestions from others that
help us fill in the gaps in our memories.”
(http://skepdic.com/memory.html) The
artists’ investigations into creating works that express the stages of
Alzheimer’s through choreographic structures, poetry forms and design
elements of new media, led them to the 2006 design.
For the concert at Arizona State University the artists created a three
part presentation for the concert goers, part one before the opening
stage performance, part two after intermission, and part three, a
physical installation outside the theater to be experienced at the end
of the concert.
Images form people attending the performance were captured each evening
and used to create the memory metaphors related to the stages of
Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. These images were combined
with an electronic sound score and selected poetry of Sean Nevin, read
live.
Trace(s)
April 2006,
Galvin
Theater, Arizona State
University