March 2022
A Simple History is a synthetic time-based media experience in which the presence of bodies is evoked by the choreographed movement of multiple voices in the paleolithic cave, Grotte du Lazaret, in Nice, France. In a manner similar to that of the archeologist, we synthesize imaginary and hybrid beings from visual traces and auditory signals. Using the words from Adrian Matejka’s poem “A Simple History” in its multiple translations, we invite visitors to experience the entropic profusion of humanity. Participants are encouraged to voice as much of Matejka’s poem as they can in a single breath near the entrance to the cave. Once well-along the visitor’s catwalk (about midway through the cave), hyperdirectional speakers playback the voices of participants in a cacophony of sound and languages in a generative performance of A Simple History. On the walls of the cave, viewers encounter projected videos displaying footage of life outside the cave juxtaposed with fragments of Matejka’s poem.
- xtine burrough
- Frank Dufour
- LabSynthE with Jessica Fuentes
- Poem by Adrian Matejka