In ‘Omniscopic,’ The Observers Become the Observed (Review)
On Re:borN Dance Interactive’s take on totalitarian surveillance
I am probably not alone when I say I have in the past covered up my mobile device as I conversed about something I didn’t want the “omnipresent entity that listens” to hear. Being heard and watched (there’s even a grimy sticky note covering my webcam as I type this) raises issues around privacy: what we have control over, what we choose to share, and how we behave when we know ‘they’ might be eavesdropping.
After all, how many times have you searched for something, or even just talked about a brand and suddenly found your Instagram feed filled with ads for that product?
My brother and I did an experiment. We chose a random brand that we would normally not talk about, and spent a whole weekend dropping the name here and there in mid-conversation while in front of our smartphones, expecting for that brand to suddenly appear in our social media feeds. But to our surprise we didn’t get a single targeted ad afterwards; I haven’t eaten a Kinder Surprise since.
Omniscopic was born out of choreographer Boroka Nagy’s trip to China, where her deep fascination with train station crowd control via megaphones lead her to realize how constantly being watched and heard had an effect on people’s behavior. Up until this point, I anticipated that state surveillance would be a big part of what I was getting myself into as I arrived at Fathom and Form in Downtown LA, to participate in this immersive experience.
As I roamed the warehouse during the pre-show VIP experience. I discovered the set had an unpolished vibe to it. I was not sure where the performance space began and ended, and was doubly unsure whether the nine cameras scattered around where part of the experience or not. During the Q&A that took place in the VIP experience, they also asked for volunteers to use a Steadicam during the show to capture live footage of the performance and project it live. They asked for a volunteer. I shot my hand up. I was to use the camera during part of the show to film whatever I wanted and it would be projected live onto one of the curtains turned projector screens that divided the performance space.
The show opened with a choral piece alternating stylized movement to James Asher’s Propaganda in contrast to moments of stillness and tribal-like choreography. Nagy’s idea behind this is to foreshadow the themes of totalitarianism versus the desire for freedom and chaos. Some audience members started to pull out their phones and record. I didn’t know what to think, and then I saw one of the ushers cross the space and do the same and I thought, is this part of the experience? And so I joined in capturing whatever material appealed to me.
During the eight pieces that followed, live recording was projected onto the four translucent curtains which also served to partition the space and were drawn depending on the piece. Part of their design was also to project on the floor creating an interesting change of perspective. The dancers would also manipulate the curtains, and in so doing, alter the image being projected.
I entered into overstimulation mode and didn’t know where to look, challenging my own attention span to stay on the dancers and wondering how long it would take me to watch the projections instead. In an era where we are constantly exposed simultaneously to multiple screens and images, how long do we spend on one particular thing? How long do we commit before prompted to look at something else? These were some thoughts that came into my head during Omniscopic.
As an audience member watching a piece with an inherent theme, I found myself trying to find meaning inthe abstract movement of the dancers, trying to create a story, but instead I was sucked in by the mesmerizing cacophony of images. Although Re:borN’s desire as a company was to explore how we change our behavior when we know we are being watched (in this case by the presence of cameras), I never caught a glimpse of myself on the projection although I looked for it, especially if the camera was focused on me. My behavior as a spectator didn’t alter, either. However something else did happen: I couldn’t choose whether the live dancing was more interesting to watch, or the multiple layers of projections of said dancers. There is something inherently aesthetic in a recorded image which is sometimes more interesting than what we see through the naked eye. Would we rather watch something through a screen, or the live version of it? Is processed image more pleasing than real life?
The close proximity with the dancers, the ability to see their expressions and fatigue, and hearing their footwork against the ground was all part of the sensorial experience of Omniscopic. Kristy Dai’s elegance in Self Disclosure was one of the highlights of the evening and the dancers’ choice to stare deep into the eyes of the audience was one of those satisfying moments which an immersive audience anticipates.
My usage of the Steadicam also gave me the authoritarian experience of dictating what was projected on the screens for the rest of the audience. I found myself focusing on the tenderness of a couple holding each other as they watched the performance: watching those who were watching.
Then turning the audience into the performers, when the piece came to an end, the dancers brought us center “stage” and exited the space. It was a wonderful way to leave the audience for a split second to digest what had just happened before the company came back into the space for their much deserved applause.
Since going through this experience, I have looked out for ways to restrict what my mobile devices “hear,” and have wondered how many surveillance cameras are watching me wherever I go. ReborN’s Omniscopic surely left me thinking about the implications of loss of privacy in my own life.
And as George Orwell knew all along, “Big Brother is Watching You.”
Omniscopic has concluded.
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