TREMENDA PRESENZA (2024)
A century after the completion and publication of the Duino Elegies in 1923, this is a tribute to Rainer Maria Rilke and the invisible.
“The angel of the Elegies is that creature in which the metamorphosis of the visible into the invisible, which we carry out, appears already completed… The angel of the Elegies is the being that guarantees the recognition of a higher rank of reality in the invisible. That is why it is tremendous for us, because we, those who love and transform, are still bound to the visible. All the worlds of the universe plunge into the invisible, into the deepest reality we have beside us.” Rilke wrote in a letter to Witold von Hulewicz on November 13, 1925.
In this case, the Virtual Reality headset becomes the threshold between the visible and the invisible. The invisible becomes a concrete presence, providing material and meaning to the performance.
Margherita Landi has developed an approach to the body that involves the VR headset to establish direct communication with the performers, who are engaged in the process through the “Landi’s Cube” system. Through Mixed Reality, Landi has constructed a visual language that offers the possibility to direct the performance in real-time, without restricting the creative freedom of the performers. This creates a dialogue that unfolds on stage in real-time, where even the software has a say, generating random elements. It’s a three-way discourse between the choreographer, performers, and the apparatus, characterized by collaboration rather than hierarchy.
The headset thus becomes an integral part of the process, generating intra-actions more than interactions, as Karen Barad would say, and, above all, creating different meanings. The invisible materialises (“come to matter”) in the performance giving importance (“coming to matter”) to ever-new aspects and meanings.
XR artist and choreography: Margherita Landi
Software developer: Fabrizio Ciolino, Esther de Bruijn, Sergi van Ravenswaay
Design: Matunda Groenendijk, Charlene Dosso
choreography assistant: Agnese Lanza
Production: Compagnia degli Istanti
With the support of: An Icon (Università di Milano), Cinedans, VRDays, Eindhoven Design Academy, Gold
Thanks to: Ariella Vidach AiEP, Centro di rilevante Interesse per la danza Virgilio Sieni, PARC- Performing Art Research Centre
TREMENDA PRESENZA (2024)
A century after the completion and publication of the Duino Elegies in 1923, this is a tribute to Rainer Maria Rilke and the invisible.
“The angel of the Elegies is that creature in which the metamorphosis of the visible into the invisible, which we carry out, appears already completed… The angel of the Elegies is the being that guarantees the recognition of a higher rank of reality in the invisible. That is why it is tremendous for us, because we, those who love and transform, are still bound to the visible. All the worlds of the universe plunge into the invisible, into the deepest reality we have beside us.” Rilke wrote in a letter to Witold von Hulewicz on November 13, 1925.
In this case, the Virtual Reality headset becomes the threshold between the visible and the invisible. The invisible becomes a concrete presence, providing material and meaning to the performance.
Margherita Landi has developed an approach to the body that involves the VR headset to establish direct communication with the performers, who are engaged in the process through the “Landi’s Cube” system. Through Mixed Reality, Landi has constructed a visual language that offers the possibility to direct the performance in real-time, without restricting the creative freedom of the performers. This creates a dialogue that unfolds on stage in real-time, where even the software has a say, generating random elements. It’s a three-way discourse between the choreographer, performers, and the apparatus, characterized by collaboration rather than hierarchy.
The headset thus becomes an integral part of the process, generating intra-actions more than interactions, as Karen Barad would say, and, above all, creating different meanings. The invisible materialises (“come to matter”) in the performance giving importance (“coming to matter”) to ever-new aspects and meanings.
XR artist and choreography: Margherita Landi
Software developer: Fabrizio Ciolino, Esther de Bruijn, Sergi van Ravenswaay
Design: Matunda Groenendijk, Charlene Dosso
choreography assistant: Agnese Lanza
Production: Compagnia degli Istanti
With the support of: An Icon (Università di Milano), Cinedans, VRDays, Eindhoven Design Academy, Gold
Thanks to: Ariella Vidach AiEP, Centro di rilevante Interesse per la danza Virgilio Sieni, PARC- Performing Art Research Centre
