david bithell
experimental music theater

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  table setting  (2002 / 2008)
    for two performers with wooden
    blocks and amplified tabletop
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                    --photography by Reinout Heil--                    -mpls-    -vooruit-   -orig.-    -remix-              
technical notes:   The custom built table-top surface is amplified via a contact mic and fed directly into the house sound.  Similarly, a video camera picks up the live image (captured from behind the performers) and is sent to a projector projecting on a screen above and behind the performers.  In the revised version (2008), a webcam located on the table is connected to a laptop running Max/MSP/Jitter. 

In three sections of the piece, the computer records the live video into a buffer and allows one of the performers to "swim around" and blur the recorded video in a smooth and compelling way, using the Apple iPhone as an interface. The processed video is presented on a monitor nearby the performers.
performances: 
  • Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble - City Theatre - Pittsburgh, PA - July 10-11, 2009 (original version)
  • 2009 SPARK Festival of Electronic Music and Art - Cedar Cultural Center - Minneapolis, MN - February 20, 2009 (new version with electroacoustic sound score)
  • Almost Cinema - Ghent International Film Festival - Vooruit Cultural Center - Ghent, Belgium - October 14, 2008 (new version with live video processing)
  • University of California, Berkeley - Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT) - Berkeley, CA - November 2002 (premiere)
video:
duration: 12 minutes (original version), 17 minutes (version with live video processing)