Artists & Projects Directory
Lars Jan/Early Morning Opera
Anticipated premiere Fall 2013. MAPP is currently seeking commissioning partners, production residencies and creative support.
HOLOSCENES engages and defies the primal fear of drowning, both in water and the larger systems of our own devising. A hybrid of performance, visual installation and public spectacle, HOLOSCENES features a series of quasi-authentic rituals gathered from sacred and secular spheres, performed live by a dozen actors over two weeks in three hydraulically-animated, jumbo aquariums. It explores the evolution of human endurance and habitual behavior in the context of natural catastrophe, while invoking sensational 24-hour media crisis coverage and fantastic aquatic attractions--the Bellagio fountain, Busby Berkeley spectacles--that parade water as if tamable.
The public performance space for HOLOSCENES is a triptych of aquariums--ten foot cubes of transparent acrylic connected to a sophisticated hydraulic system--set next to one another and viewable from 360 degrees. As water fills and empties from the aquariums at varying intervals and rates, the choreography of the performers, the appearance of costumes, the functioning of objects, all change. Water pushes the performers to the top of the aquariums where they attempt to conduct their rituals in a modified form; as it drains, the performers continue, soaked by these mini-floods. Through repetition, these recurrent nightmares conjuring both historical and environmental tragedies, gain a poetry of motion, becoming studies in adapted behavior and persistence, rather than catastrophe.
To bring this ambitious work to fruition Jan is designing HOLOSCENES with a core group of collaborators who bring their scientific, technologic and creative expertise to this project, including: aquarium designer Dan Hancock, who has over 15 years of experience developing solutions for unique creative projects, including major aquarium facilities; hydraulic engineer Check Kirivong, who has worked with WET, renowned designers of iconic water features worldwide; Geoff Sobelle, an innovative performer and choreographer recognized for his work in actor-driven performance; Pablo N. Molina, a specialist in emerging technologies and custom software; and Barry Farley, an Aquatics Director at Cirque du Soleil well versed in the challenges of performing in water.