Cubes
Multimedia Performance
April 2016
Artist Statement
I've always been fascinated with boxes. One of my fondest memories from childhood is building houses out of Legos with my dad, who taught me how the blocks can come together in different ways. In this performance I wanted to explore the spaces that cubes construct, both physically and in memory. I constructed a minimal set with a 2'' x 2'' x 2'' cube and the shell of the cube made from cellophane that was hung from the ceiling. Through movement, projections, and music, I wanted to explore how I grew in and out of boxes.
Process
One of the biggest challenges with the piece was figuring how all the elements came together. Each element had its own challenges on the way; trying to configure the Pure Data program to generate the kind of cube projections I wanted, while picking up sounds from my microphone was more challenging than I initially expected. I tested several different methods and materials to construct the hanging cube so that it would have the right balance between a seemingly ethereal entity and a clearly delineated structure when projected upon. The whole process took around 2 months in total, with lots of testing and ideation and changing ideas along the way. My biggest takeaway from the experience was to get over my fear of messing something up and just doing it- and changing things if things didn't work.
