Ula Sickle
Atomic 5.1 - Performance - 2010
presented as part of the exhibition Panorama 12
Performance
"Strobos" means whirlwind in ancient Greek and scope comes from "skopeïn", which means to observe. The 5 stroboscopic lamps (Martin Atomic 3000) used in the performance are placed in a circle and refer to etymology. By working with lights placed at different angles but aiming at a same object or the same direction, any change in position (or movement) is perceived even when there is no real movement. It is the opposite of the stroboscopic effect in which a movement caught in a flash of light seems still or frozen. This arrangement and the choreographic research play with real movement (the dancer who moves) and the fictional movements (the alternating light and the angle of light). The sound produced by the lamps, amplified and modulated, becomes a subtle musical score. The body caught in this whirling light resembles images projected reminiscent of the first animation films. These images also refer to 3D imagery, since the light flashes create a real depth. This set up is in a way a three-dimensional "image machine", made from simple technology intimately linked to the beginnings of cinema.
