en
How many angels can fit in a cloud? This outdated medieval scholastic problem resurfaces today in the form of clouds, bits and data. While much of our work consists of manipulating data, we rarely ask: What does it feel like to touch data? What does it feel like to touch clouds?
Digitus (Latin for "finger width", "number") comes from the Proto-Indo-European *deyǵ- ("to show, to point"). Virtual reality enables us to handle digital objects in the truest sense of the word. This short-circuiting of touch and abstraction offers a fruitful framework for exploring the materiality of immaterial objects. Turning touch into abstraction allows us to explore this materiality, but also the way in which they move us through space: how they choreograph us.
"Touching Clouds" is an augmented reality work for one person at a time. You book a time slot with your ticket. It is best to arrive at the Academy for Theater and Digitality about 15 minutes early so that we know you are there. You will receive a special pair of glasses, which you keep on for the duration of the performance (30 minutes) and return afterwards. If you have any questions, we can help you on site. If you have already purchased another ticket as part of the festival, admission is free as long as there are still time slots available.
"Touching Clouds" is both an augmented reality piece and a choreographic installation: in a sufficiently empty room, headsets are offered to the audience individually. Those who choose to put on a headset see the space and the people around them augmented with virtual, floating stones and leaves that react in different ways to touch and movement. The exploration of the virtual space also leads them through the real space: a choreography is created.
By: Simon Speiser and Norbert Pape
Music: Franziska Aigner
Text and voice: Göksu Kunak
Vocals and songs: Hanako Hayakawa
Prayer: Taís Lobo
Voice & Tarot Guidance: Pêdra Costa
Dramaturgy: Austin Gross
Unity Development: Simon Speiser, Norbert Pape
Shader Development: Norbert Pape
"Touching Clouds" is a production by Norbert Pape & Simon Speiser. Supported by the VR residency "Beyond Gravity" at Theater im Depot, NPN - STEPPING OUT with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of the NEUSTART KULTUR program. Code development supported by the Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of the NEUSTART KULTUR program.
Tickets for the event can be purchased at the Theater im Depot or at the event.
Photocredits: Pape, Speiser