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2. Performance
Design
Terra Incognita consists of a mobile robot hosting a sculptural
form of a six-week human embryo that moves inside an "unknown"
environment. This environment also hosts a second robot equipped with
a video camera that can be tele-operated by the audience. The signal from
the camera is broadcasted to both the robot operator, who may be any audience
member, and to a video projector that shows a large-scale version of the
camera input and the user interface. While controlling the robot, the
audience hears a robotic voice generated from a speech synthesizer that
recites "Dream-Land," one line at a time. The system displays
the text associated with the recitation of each line in a small area on
the screen. The system uses two voices for recitation, a male and a female
one. The order in which these voices are heard is random. Furthermore,
the time between successive recitations is random.
Apart from the recitation,
the audience is exposed to real-time audio effects that are generated
constantly. These effects mimic the static noise of a short-wave radio
transmission. In addition, the audience hears MIDI sounds that are generated
by a composing algorithm linked to the movement detected by the video
camera onboard the tele-operated robot.
The user controls
the camera-bearing robot using a set of four arrow buttons on the user
interface window. Using these buttons an audience member can instruct
the robot to move forwards, backwards, turn left or right. The movement
of the embryo-carrying robot is autonomous and random in the four directions
described above.
2.1 Space and
Sound Design
At a conceptual
level, Terra Incognita seeks to create an 'unidentified' form of
physical space representing a 'Terra Incognita' of art and invites
the audience to explore it. The performance seeks to create a physical
space that possesses the basic qualities of the 'land' described in the
poem: dark, alien, harsh, dream-like and unattainable.
To this end, both
robots move in a flat, empty area, significantly larger than their size.
This area is lit using only two spotlights located at ground level in
a direction parallel to the ground. The lighting design seeks to create
an unnatural form of ambient illumination. (In real life light comes from
above and not from the side as in this work.) The size of the space, its
darkness, and the unnatural lighting conditions give the impression of
an alien space when viewed from the robot camera. This impression is reinforced
by the artificiality and harshness of the voices used in the recitation
of the poem.
By the use of MIDI
sounds, we seek to impose the dream-like qualities of the space described
by Poe. The instruments that correspond to these sounds are selected from
a statistical process that favours piano or percussion sounds over brass
or string instruments and low notes over high ones. Consequently, this
process creates dynamically a soundtrack inspired by some of John Cage's
piano works [Cage]. The frequency with which these sounds are generated
is proportional to the amount of movement detected by the robotic camera.
Movement is detected whenever the embryo-carrying robot moves in front
of the camera or when the camera-bearing robot executes instructions from
the user. As a result, the density with which MIDI sounds are produced
is proportional to the level of activity in the event and this reinforces
the sense of control that the audience has over the content of the performance.
Finally, the continuous
generation of noise-like audio effects similar to the noise heard in short-wave
radio transmissions serves to impose the sense of unattainability of the
'land' described by Poe. An unattainable space cannot be analyzed or broken
down into constituent parts; thus, all possibilities are left open during
its exploration. In a similar vein, noise is a 'gestalt' experience containing
all frequencies and, thus, all possibilities for expression. Furthermore,
the dark and passive embryo-form that is carried around in space by a
machine provides a concrete metaphor for the human inability to experience
and actively explore the 'land' in the poem.
In order to capture
the sense of awe and impotence that Poe feels towards the space he describes
in "Dream-land," the performance is structured in a contrapuntal
manner. The existence of parallel, contrasting elements at the interaction
level (an active, user-controlled robot versus a passive sculptural form
that is being moved around in a random fashion and remains indifferent
to the user's actions) achieves a structural tension that emphasizes the
futility of the audience's efforts to understand the mysteries of this
land. This tension is further emphasized by the juxtaposition of structured
MIDI sounds and noise during the performance, along with the use of a
male and a female voice in the poem's recitation.
2.2 Interpretative
Possibilities
Terra Incognita attempts to establish possibilities of meaning
in a variety of levels during the event, thus emphasizing the inherent
polysemy of Poe's poetic language. The performance becomes dynamic and
malleable, which allows the user to explore, at her/his own pace, different
interpretative possibilities of the literary work and react to what s/he
perceives. Therefore, Terra Incognita attempts to enrich our interpretation
experience of the poem with a spatial awareness that transcends the constraints
of printed or, more generally, audiovisual media. The interpretation of
the poem during the performance becomes an active, observable process
in physical space that can be shared by the audience and can instigate
more intense exploration of the literary work.
The use of random
MIDI sounds and noise during the performance along with the random movements
of the robot carrying the sculptural form is influenced by the performance
aesthetics proposed in the works of John Cage and Merce Cunningham. Static
radio noise and the use of chance procedures in generating musical phrases
that are linked to audience activity are inspired by Cage's use of everyday
sounds as musical instruments, his 'non-intentional music' forms and his
desire to create aural landscapes that make it clear to the listener that
the hearing of music is a product of his/her own actions, that the music
is his/hers rather than the composer's. Furthermore, the use of random
movements in the behaviour of the sculpture-carrying robot that are disassociated
from both the soundtrack and the narrative process are inspired by Cunningham's
choreographies and seek to establish pure movement as one of the primary
forces in generating tension and drama during the performance.
2.3 Poe's Poetics
Poe's poetic
work was specifically chosen as the main subject of this performance because
of his belief that poetry should be used as a means for the 'contemplation
of the beautiful' (Poe, p. 1376). According to Poe beauty manifests itself
in literature through the generation of 'impressions' or 'effects' that
induce strong affective reactions in the reader, with 'melancholy [being]
the most legitimate of all the poetical tones' (p. 1377). Furthermore,
Poe believed in the immediacy of the reading experience and was sceptical
towards the creation of literary works that could not be read at one sitting
since the vastly important effect of the totality or unity of effect would
be destroyed in these works (p. 1375). Terra Incognita seeks to
integrate the presentation of the poem in a perceptual environment that
enhances the affective qualities of "Dream-Land" and leads the
user to a state of excitement or elevation in line with the poet's goals.
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A QuickTime movie (~1 MB): A second robot is equipped with a video camera
that can be tele-operated by the audience.
A
QuickTime movie (~1 MB): The signal from the camera is broadcasted to
both the robot operator, who may be any audience member, and to a video
projector that shows a large-scale version of the camera input and the
user interface.
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