★★★
Electric Dreams. SA Museum Pacific Cultures Gallery. 22 February 2022
Producer Electric Dreams from Britain creates dynamic amusements using interactive virtual reality (VR) technology originated by London’s StudioGoGo. There are a number of VR shows at the Fringe and Electric Dreams is presenting two of them, as well as a day-long conference on immersive storytelling and this one.
Wonderful that a show entitled Anthropocene is located in the midst of the museum’s collection of objects from the Pacific. The geological timeline of the earth is divided into time-chunks and we are living in the Holocene. However, there is a movement to have all or part of it renamed the Anthropocene to reflect Humankind’s effect on the geological record through anthropogenic effects like increasing CO2, cultivation, urbanisation and other processes.
On stage is a large QR code giving audience access to the performance guide which is rather difficult to read given the background colour is slate grey and all the writing and symbols are far too small - ironic given this work is based on good design. Composer Jamie Perera gives an introduction and some explanation concerning the origins of the work. It’s complicated. Perera and his team accumulated data relevant to climate change and its social implications eg GDP) - all of it harmfully rising in accelerating trends especially since 1850 - and converted it into sound; a process known as sonification. Perera makes a good example by holding out his hand and singing tones that vary high and low with the length of his fingers (something to try at home.) These data are displayed in a chronological chart in the performance guide along with major anthropological events like the origin of farming and the Industrial Revolution over the last 12,000 years. Good luck trying to relate these data to the music, but that’s not the point, just taking in the audiovisual components is enough for your role.
The show comprises a film and score. Who created the film is not clear, maybe Perera did? The music is increasingly complex - strident and rather unrelenting. As layers of sound are added so are layers of imaging, similar to the way sediments are layered in a geological section. Finally, you view over a dozen thin strips of images on the small screen which are associated with the sonified data. Occasionally, screen-wide images are overlain and recorded voice-overs compete with the orchestral score. The whole thing increases in tempo and urgency – one is reminded of Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance from 1982.
Anthropocene in C Major was all of contemplative, mesmerising, hypnotic, cacophonic and a little tedious at various times due to the stability of the overarching audio and visual theme. Some help arrived with Julian Ferraretto playing an electric violin, but one wonders how he felt competing with the electronic orchestra and voices? Perera remained on stage the whole time behind a PC. At the end of the film, he explained that every show is different, but his own role in the live showing is not clear.
Perera spoke of climate change anxiety and even grief in his epilogue. If you’re feeling either or both of these, you will find no comfort here. But if you are in denial, this show will give you a good shake. It’s a curious and technical project matching the data to your senses.
David Grybowski
When: 19 & 22 Feb
Where: SA Museum Pacific Cultures Gallery
Bookings: Season Closed
