‘NOWISWHEREWEARE’ Brings Us to ‘The Stars’ and Back (REVIEW)
Andrew Schneider’s immersive installation wows NYC audiences
“If society collapsed tomorrow, do you know in which direction you would start walking?”
It’s been a while since a question has made me pause, but this one shook me to my core. No, I don’t know where I would start walking. I couldn’t even tell you which way was North. I could probably navigate NYC without my GPS or a map, but where I would want to go would be much harder to get to on my own. Also why is society collapsing? Wait, hasn’t it already? These thoughts all came rushing over me in one instant as I entered the world of the stars.
NOWISWHEREWEARE: The Stars is an immersive installation performance piece created by Andrew Schneider, which I attended at BAM’s NextWave Festival in December 2022, but it has since performed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard as well. The piece is one part large scale art installation, one part TED talk, and one part existential life crisis, all obscured and softened by a million magical lights. The installation includes strings of sensor responsive twinkle lights that are hung from the ceiling throughout the space. Spectators enter the space in total darkness and are slowly introduced to the lights as the piece progresses. Spectators are given the opportunity to explore the space, instructed to sit on the floor at times or wander where their heart takes them at others. The lights are motion responsive and glow or play audio (music & spoken word) when neared at times, but are controlled by design at others. The performance features Schneider on a god mic speaking to spectators throughout their experience, and the content of the piece focuses on themes of memory, the meaning of life, time, and meaning making. What are we doing and why? Will it matter when we’re at the end of our lives? Will anyone even remember us?
If this all sounds terribly existential, rest assured that the tone is not dour. This piece has a feeling of whimsy akin to the incessant questioning of a child — why? why? why? — along with a sense of sharpness and a certain heaviness that rounds it out. There is a significant focus on what one’s life is filled with and the time we are allotted to experience this life. The piece contains themes like the vastness of the world and how uncanny it is that we are experiencing the version of events that we are at this very moment. I happened to attend the performance with my partner, which added a layer of meaning that worked really well. I found myself reaching for my partner, squeezing his hand and feeling a sense of knowing; a sense of comfort in being there together and of being in this life together and how lucky that is.
Towards the end, the lights offer the spectators a special moment that I won’t spoil here, but it is a moment of community building that transcends time and space. Spectators then have the opportunity to contribute to the experience in a unique and touching way, so that each person’s presence at the piece will contribute to the experience of those to come. This created a sense of interwovenness and engagement that felt earned by this point of the performance, and added fulfillment by creating a never ending chain of interactivity amongst spectators.
I so enjoyed my time with The Stars and only wish that I may have had more. But I suppose that’s the point of the piece, despite our best efforts to make the most of the time we have, it somehow never feels like enough.
NOWISWHEREWEARE: The Stars has concluded it’s recent runs at BAM’s NextWave Festival (November 2022 — December 2022) and the Brooklyn Navy Yard (January 2023). More info and news about future runs can be found on Andrew Schneider’s website here.
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