
Networked performance has now got the major arts institutions seal of approval with the series of online performances initiated by the Tate titled BMW Tate Live at Tate Modern. The first of these was on the 22nd of March and seemed to go largely unnoticed in many networked / new media art circles however the second Pablo Bronstein’s Constantinople Kaleidoscope (images above and below) broadcast tonight received a lot more publicity through a variety of mailing lists.
Tonight’s performance was pretty good, well worth watching. It consisted of a clever use of several mirrors choreographed movement by performers to reveal all points of view of the space the performance was occuring within. The mirrors allowed action from different parts of the space to be composited together within the broadcast screen space, sometimes creating optical effects and sometimes simply dividing the screen into parts similar to video split screen effects. What was particularly interesting for me was how the mirrors revealed the camera capturing the event, the result being the distance audience was effectively pulled into the space of the event as we were identified as having that initial point of view. In addition what would nomally have been off stage in a performance like this, prompters providing directions for sequences of movements, were also clearly visible and audible. All three spaces of performance, support and audience colapsing together. The simplicity of the performances execution enabled the clear concept of spaces, point of view and vision to be understood in the work.
What was unclear and not revealed through the question and answer session with the artist after the performance was how the subject matter of the performance, a heavily costumed sequence of dance like movements, related to those concepts. References such as 1920′s Russian performances were briefly mentioned (such as those developed by the Constructivists) however ideas of how optics were explored in those and perhaps related to this performance was unfortunately not developed any further during the Q&A.




If you missed the live event the full performance and Q&A is already online on YouTube (embedded above). Below is Jerome Bell’s performance of Shirtology, the first performance at BMW Tate Live.











