Project XYZ

A collaboration between multiple disciplines including dance, architecture, and film, exploring danc

Project XYZ is a collaboration between multiple disciplines including dance, architecture, and film, exploring dance in the context of interactive environments. Our mission is twofold: (1) to bring awareness to the delicate relationship between humans and the space around us, and (2) to promote collaboration between individuals of diverse backgrounds and experiences.

08/22/2020

*TOMORROW* EXPANSIVENESS: CHANGING PERSPECTIVE - a virtual restaging and live streaming experience merging architecture and dance from MashUp Contemporary Dance company and Curious Minds LA

Live Streaming from Los Angeles
August 23rd 2020 5pm PT / 8pm ET
Live streaming on Youtube

Architecture studio CMLA and MashUp Contemporary Dance Company, in collaboration with HomeMakeLabs, present the virtual restaging of Expansiveness: Changing perspective. This immersive performance first presented at the A + D museum in 2018, evokes both spatial and social manifestations of expansiveness. The physical and projected environment is a design implementation of CMLA’s ongoing research project Architecture of Effortless Attention, through which the studio is investigating means and methods for producing qualities of mystery and novelty to promote psychological wellness. MashUp’s choreography brings the audience through a narrative of identifying truth among the thoughts we each project upon ourselves and upon each other. The performance explores the potential of people recognizing a problem, considering solutions together, and collectively producing change through the expansion of one small idea. The virtual restaging of this work will be performed live from MashUp’s resident studio, and streamed through Youtube, creating a sensation of being in the action right from their own homes. Co-produced by two female-owned organizations, Expansiveness: Changing perspective celebrates Women’s Equality Day with a live streaming performance on August 23rd.

10/03/2019

Authority, insecurity, power, fear, voyeurism. Join us October 12th and 13th for Omniscopic, an immersive multi-media event exploring our complex relationship with surveillance and ubiquitous media. Choreographed and directed by and performed by . Cinematography in collaboration with of . Bit.ly/Omniscopic for tickets. @ Fathom & Form Warehouse

08/16/2019

Theme - lines and alignment. Parallel lines projected onto a stretched membrane produce a live, interactive contour map (see previous post about ‘Frame’). The interaction between the parallel lines and the human body produces an animated drawing, which becomes the performance itself.

Space:
Dancers: , , of
Photo:
Projection collab:

@ Los Angeles, California

08/15/2019

Theme - lines and alignment. Screen caps from a recent edit of ‘Frame’, from a scene where large shapes of light transform into a figure ground of vertical bands. Here, lines are translated from an animated graphic into light projected onto the human body, producing contours along the dancers’ silhouettes.

Dancers: , ,
Choreography: @joyrobin90
Film:

@ Los Angeles, California

08/14/2019

Theme - lines and alignment. ‘Line’ and ‘Gradient’ use a series of black lines (in askew and parallel formations, respectively) which build up over time with dancer interaction. Recently we’ve been looking at the XYZ portfolio, thinking about what themes align between projects. While each project is designed and built for a distinct purpose with a different set of parameters, our intrinsic interests always come through. The use of lines is common in our work, perhaps as a result of the subconscious desire to blend drawing with physical installation.

Dancers: and of ‘Line’; of ‘Gradient’
Choreography:
Film:

@ Downtown Los Angeles

08/08/2019

Inspiration - Frei Otto, architect and engineer. Frei Otto iterated through various study models using many types of materials, including fabric membranes and soap. His series of books published with the Institute for Lightweight Structure have informed the work of and since the beginning.

engineering @ Downtown Los Angeles

08/07/2019

Inspiration - Etienne Jules Marey, chronophotographer. Marey’s work set a foundation for documenting movement, producing diagrams that document change over time.

@ Downtown Los Angeles

08/06/2019

Inspiration - Dimitris Papaioannou, choreographer. Papaioannou uses interactive set environments for his dancers. The work is incredibly spatial, and the environments he creates feel sublime and dream-like when experienced in person.
@ Los Angeles, California

08/02/2019

Process - models and prototypes. We’ve found it difficult to render reflections digitally, so ‘Expansiveness’ required a lot of testing with study models. These photos were taken from outside of the boxes, using 2-way mirrors to allow views into the model. The study models were very useful and accurate in representing how the final performance would look, demonstrated in the last photo where is dancing in the 2-way infinity mirror box, 10’ x 10’ x 10’ at full scale. Special thanks to for sponsoring this event with their Glassless mirrors.

Space:
Dance: of
Sponsor:

@ Los Angeles, California

08/01/2019

Process - models and prototypes. We tested various granular materials, such as rice, quinoa, and sand, in prototyping for ‘Gradient.’ We need the material to generate a thin line as it fell through a ‘Life Wtr’ water bottle tip; we also observed the aesthetics of the resulting pile. In the end, we chose a black mineral used in pottery, sourced from a clay warehouse (pro-tip - MUCH cheaper than purchasing sand!).

Space:
Producers:
Dancer:
Film:

@ Downtown Los Angeles

07/31/2019

Process - models and prototypes. A series of test membrane and projection studies leading up to ‘Contour’ at LA Dance project. Studies looked at projector directionality and subsequent light and shadow, which determined the final locations of the two projectors we used on the membrane.

Space:
Dancers: , , of
Photo:
Projection collab:

Address

737 Kohler Street
Los Angeles, CA
90021

Website

http://curiousminds.la/projectxyz

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