People Are Talking: UMS presents Ryoji Ikeda’s...
Posted: 10/31/14
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PERFORMANCES & EVENTS
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All comments by marge
People Are Talking: UMS presents Ryoji Ikeda’s superposition at Power Center:
Ning,
I definitely agree with your statement on looking for patterns. Throughout the performance, I kept trying to look for patterns or trends that I could follow to help me understand or interpret what was going on. Unfortunately I found many times that once I caught on to some inkling of a pattern, it would disappear back into chaos. I felt almost as if Ikeda was kind of teasing the audience by offering some bit of order that we could attempt to make sense of but then he completely obliterates that and we are once again lost. Although this was frustrating from the viewpoint of trying to enjoy the performance, if he was trying to point out that people should stop trying to find meaning in everything we perceive, it was a very effective.
Superposition is precisely about the “encounter of randomness and control” which was specifically mentioned by Ryoji Ikeda in his interview with Peter Weibel on July 31, 2012. Ikeda purposely creates randomness with an intention to distinguish its counterbalance. With this expectation already instilled in my mind, I was able to detect several nuances that changed my aesthetic view of digital art.
The first encounter of randomness, perhaps, was unpleasantly “shocking” for many people. I have to admit that I also experienced some unease by the white and black slides blasting relentlessly in high frequencies. However, I noticed something structured and organized, apart from this mosaic chaos. Effacing all the cacophonies from the electric shocks and heeded closely at the time-clicking sound at the background, I was able to see sinusoidal waves. They were delineated by black screens aligned at discrete positions at certain time increments. Like the phi phenomenon ascribing the path of a fast-moving flashlight to our cognitive activities, the waves seemed to stimulate similar responses in our brains. Suggestively, Ikeda wanted to underline the fact that our minds are prewired to search for patterns in random dynamics of nature.
Another conclusion I drew from this episode is the quantum theory of wave-particle dualism. In analogy to this concept, each screen represents particulate property of light; but when you see them as a collective body, its wave-like quality becomes readily perceivable.
If Ikeda was playing a slot machine with the blasting screens, he would never wait for his prize to happen by chance. Instead, he would rather take control over time and make sure every figures will align with one another at his discretion just like he demonstrated here.
If you are interested in the Ryogi Ikeda’s interview with Peter Weibel, here is a link that will direct you to the article adapted by UMS: http://www.umslobby.org/index.php/2014/10/artist-interview-ryoji-ikeda-creator-of-superposition-16077
"by Ning Kuo
People Are Talking: UMS presents Ryoji Ikeda’s superposition at Power Center:
I didn’t hate the performance, nor did I enjoy it. Given the number of people in the audience who were covering their ears, I’m sure it was quite an uncomfortable experience for them, as it was for me. Once I got over the sensory overload and tried to ignore the fact that my eardrums and pupils were being abused, I tried to get a grasp on what everything meant. Was there supposed to be a deeper meaning? The Morse code section presented some thought-provoking ideas, but I found it difficult to find any significance in parts that didn’t have words. The only connection I made with the performance was when I thought of Chuck Bartowski getting the Intersect downloaded into his brain after seeing a million things flash before his eyes in a few short minutes. I couldn’t help but hope that I gained something from the chaos, even if subconsciously.
I found myself thinking more about how this experience was affecting my brain rather than a trying to find a deeper meaning. I thought about how the super-fast images really challenged the brain’s capacity to perceive and process information and the effect that had on my overall nervous system.
At some points, it got a little monotonous, which is why I found myself relishing in the moments that had color instead of just black and white and melody instead of white noise. Another thing I struggled with during this performance was the lack of direction; I mean, obviously it would be hard to have a plot with this type of performance, but everything seemed so random to me that I didn’t even know the performance was over until the lights came on and people started clapping. I guess I was expecting some sense of closure, which is why I was surprised when it just ended like that.