“The Dictator” is a world that appears on the surface to be a classic realm of a totalitarian state, but beneath this facade we are re-appropriating the technological tools of oppression and control such as surveillance, interrogation and data mining and using them to create an environment designed to divine human truth and wisdom and bring about surprising and unexpected connections. This work deals with personal power - taking our own action in the face of the reality around us and finding an honest dialog and investigate what personal power can mean in our particular time and place.
"A Guggenheim fellowship has given me the opportunity to dive deep into our practice of research, musical experimentation and opening up our process to the public - inviting strangers and peers into the studio for intense face to face performance experiments. The work Dictator explores the boiling tensions underneath our daily existence in search of truth. Interrogation tactics, game shows, and surveillance are starting points for the eventual convergence of ideas in this part of the piece. These are personal and social issues that we refuse to confront. These experiments will help to inform the coming seance, dances and interactions with the public - creating a volatile balance between the viewer and performer."
- Haruko Nishimura
Costume designer Alenka making quick adjustments during the Dictator photo shoot. Books burning in the foreground.
We have been drone testing and experimenting as well. Here's the drone looking at us....
Below are images from our ongoing sessions with peers and members of the public in the form of face to face confrontations, interrogations, instant choirs, game shows, trials and confessions. These experiments with physicality and sound strive to discover moments of truth.
CLICK HERE FOR A JOURNAL OF ONGOING PROGRESS FOR THIS PROJECT
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