Sam Anderson, Drama

Contact samwise@u.washington.edu

Splatter

We are a group of current and former UW students working on an
experimental performance project, based loosely on the Greek myth of
Pygmalion, that will involve many multimedia elements.  The purpose of our
work is to experiment with ways to completely integrate video, live-feed,
animation, and other media into a performance piece.  These elements are
therefore more than just backgrounds or special effects... they are
characters that interact with the performers, drive forward the story, and
help present the themes of the piece (creativity, relationships, and loss
of control thereof).

For example, a slide show (presented with Powerpoint) begins to take live
pictures of the onstage action that reveal the characters in a different
light. In another sequence, an artist's drawing comes to life through a
projected animation, and carries on a flirtatious conversation with its
creator. Elsewhere, two characters' unrealistic expectations of each other
are presented through comical morphing silhouettes.  These are just a few
examples of what we want to experiment with over the course of our
rehearsal period.

Our inspiration includes the video art work of Tony Oursler, Joan Jonas,
Stephanie Smith and Edward Stewart, and Bill Viola, as well as many other
performance and visual artists.

Collaborators in various capacities (performers, designers, technical
assistance, etc.) include Joby Emmons, Rachael Mills-McCabe, Stephanie
Albornoz, Hana Lass, Ali Ormiston, Spencer Thorson, Melaena Keckler-Cadiz,
Michael McQuilken, Ann Bartek, Heidi Ganser, Adam Dow, and others.