i/o is a live art piece that fuses sound installation, physical theatre, and opera to explore how people and machines co-exist today. This was one of several collaborations with director Phil Soltanoff.
Six performers on wireless microphones are paired with six human-scale loudspeakers on stands. These loudspeakers are terminals of an administrative apparatus that the performers must constantly check in with, and through which they communicate to each other. Without a script or traditional narrative, a recognizable contemporary story plays out between the contained algorithm and the needs of raw life expressed by the human voice.
The piece is conceived as a suite of sonic / choreographic movements, each with a radically different spatial arrangement: a traditional proscenium, a large circle surrounding the audience, a small square inside the audience, a wall in front of the audience, and randomly dispersed through the performance space. Each configuration – simply defined by a new arrangement of the performers and loudspeakers – invites the audience to arrange and define themselves in relation to the piece and each other. Thus, choosing where to stand, what to see, and how to receive i/o becomes an integral part of the experience.
Here’s an excerpt from the European premiere at Theatre Garonne in Toulouse, France…