Performing the Spectator

Performing the Spectator is an expanded-cinema work staged in a traditional theater. Once the audience is seated and the lights dim, the projection of a one-take that has just been recorded starts. The silver screen mirrors the exact same room the audience is in, but empty. We see the empty room from the construction of the grandstand to the moment the current audience enters, takes their seats and the lights fade out.

Spontaneous choreographies emerge from chairs, technicians and spectators. Combined with the precisely staged set-up, group movements form into scenes to behold.

Performing the Spectator disrupts the relationship between the spectator and the performance. By focusing the camera on the observer as an opposing eye looking back, the spectator shifts back and forth from subject to object.