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 Maya
People Are Talking: UMS presents Ryoji Ikeda’s superposition at Power Center:
I felt the same way about not being able to identify a particular message that the piece was trying to send. I was also in the balcony, so at some parts of the performance I tried my best to focus intently on the typed messages because I thought I could find a particular message that was being sent in those. I still don’t know if I did, but I gave up about halfway through the show. I don’t know that the piece was meant to convey a certain message, but I think that if anything the audience could have just taken away from it a new way to view performance. Watching this kind of performance was new and unfamiliar to many of us, so if anything at least we broadened our horizons.
This performance left me more conflicted than anything else. Leaving the Power Center, I could not decide whether I was intrigued or confused. Part of me really enjoyed the ingenuity and creativity of Ikeda’s production. The performance was unlike anything I had ever seen before. I did not know what to expect and was, for the most part, always entertained. The various scenes and constantly changing sounds and visuals assured entertainment. The fact that the two actors controlled most of the visuals was incredibly enticing, as it was as if our reality was being fused with the apparent reality of the performance. Seeing individuals influencing the performance so significantly made it feel more real and applicable to the reality of the audience.
"Another part of me was confused the entire time, as I continually was trying to understand what the performance was actually about. I spent most of the performance thinking about what I was supposed to take away from the performance. In the beginning, I thought that all the numbers and patterns were supposed to symbolize the repetition and randomness in life. Then when the actors typed the long messages of Morse code, I thought that Ikeda was trying to convey a certain point when in reality the messages made little to no sense to me. This might have been due to my view, as I was sitting in the balcony and one of the large screens was partially blocked by the large speakers. Never the less, I became more confused, and in turn more frustrated that I did not understand the purpose. Later, when the various satellite images appeared, I was more intrigued but still confused about the objective of the performance.
In general, I am happy I attended Superposition. Although I left thoroughly confused, I was able to see a truly contemporary performance that exceeded my expectations.
by Carolyn
People Are Talking: UMS presents Ryoji Ikeda’s superposition at Power Center:
Ryoji Ikeda’s “Superposition” pushed the boundaries of performance in a way that I have never seen done before. It was far more than just a visual experience, for it was almost tangible. As a college student, I tend to stick with what is comfortable for me, which is seeing mainstream pop or rock artists perform live or watching theater productions put on by my school. While those shows are entertaining in their own right, few have been as thought provoking for me as “Superposition”. It was a show different than all others, and it actually made me very excited to see what is to come in the future of performance. The way that Ryoji Ikeda mixed the elements of sound and sight created a futuristic atmosphere. He is definitely ahead of his time.
While Ryoji Ikeda’s play on sight and sound pushed boundaries and was surely inventive, what was the cost? There was no spectrum of sound or sight in this piece. It was either utterly silent or sounds pierced and vibrated through one’s ears. The same can be said for the images flashing before the audience. It was either pitch black or harsh/bright color combinations were presented before us. Personally, I found it riveting and breathtaking, but I noticed that others did not feel the same way. People around me seemed to be very uncomfortable for the most part. I noticed that many people had brief moments of discomfort where they had to look away or plug their ears, but some even felt like it was necessary to leave. The way that the performance heightened the audience’s senses may have been overwhelming to many, but I actually think that the layer of discomfort added to the effect of the piece. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Maya