NEXT UP> in New York City at PS122: COIL festival, Jan 6-12
GuruGuru by Ant Hampton, with Joji Koyama and Isambard Khroustaliov.
You have been told what to do every moment of the day, for years on end. The voice in your headphones has understood who you are and gives instructions which mirror what you'd be doing anyway. A life free of dither and uncertainty! In your job, this voice is a career-saver... but the day has come when you need to come 'off the headphones'. You need help.
"Part of the reason their shows are so gripping is the constant threat of disaster...
at the same time, Rotozaza’s work exists in a tightly controlled world" - New York Times
For ten years, Rotozaza has explored the use of instructions given live to unrehearsed performers. This gave rise to their Autoteatro strategy (pioneered by 'Etiquette') wherein participants find themselves exchanging audience and performer roles by simply following instructions, often heard via headphones.
GuruGuru takes this further - five participants instead of two, led by a sixth, on-screen, animated character whose twin roles of marketing and spiritual Guru are confused by his reliance on untested and accident-prone technologies. The overproduced, digital sheen of our focus-group world cracks open into a colourful volcano of boiling absurdity. A hilarious chaos develops, exposing today's consumer-mad inability to distinguish between what we want, and what we need.
GuruGuru (round-and-round in Japanese) is created by Ant Hampton together with two long-time collaborators -
Isambard Khroustaliov (Sam Britton) has been involved in nine theatre productions with Ant Hampton since 1993. Rotozaza’s first show with instructions to an unrehearsed performer, BLOKE, was a collaboration between Ant and Sam in Paris,1999. An internationally renowned and pioneering composer of electro-acoustic / contemporary classical music, Sam trained at IRCAM in Paris and is one half of the group ICARUS.
Icarus , Not Applicable and Isambard's own site
Joji Koyama
Born in Tokyo and now based in London, Joji Koyama is an award-winning film-maker, animator and graphic artist. He is the director of the short films 'From Nose to Mouth' (Arts Council of England), 'Watermelon Love' (Channel 4, NESTA), and most recently 'First Place' (Animasivo).
His films have been widely screened at international film festivals, galleries and museums. He is also known for his work directing music videos under the alias Woof Wan-Bau for the likes of Four tet, Mogwai and Coldcut.
see Joji Koyama.com
*****
Read COMMENTS from Edinburgh 2009
press photos here (zip file)
Facts and FAQ's:
Q - Is there an audience?
A - Only the other four people wearing headphones, doing the piece with you. There is no audience as such, watching.
Q - If it's only for 5 people, is it hard to get a ticket?
A - No, because there's often more than one 'setup' and the piece is programmed hourly throughout the day.
Conceived / directed by Ant Hampton
Sound by Isambard Khroustaliov
Animation / video by Joji Koyama
Guru voice - Peter Donaldson
with thanks to Nexus Productions, Charlie Bell, Alice Scott, Paul Bennun, Ron Berry Jr & Refraction Arts