Visualizing Strawinsky (VR-Arena)

2007

Klaus Obermaier (AT)
Rainer Eilmsteiner
Horst Hörtner (AT)
Christopher Lindinger (AT)
Christine Sugrue
Matthias Bauer

Stravinsky’s 1913 ballet “Le Sacre du Printemps” (The Rite of Spring) does not tell a story in a conventional sense. It depicts a ritual of human sacrifice in heathen times, whereby the sequence of dances reflects the individual elements of the ceremony.

This classic piece with its explosive musical power has not simply been visualized by Klaus Obermaier and the Ars Electronica Futurelab; what they have done is to augment it with an additional level of experience: a 3-D space coupled to musical impulses.

Stereo cameras transpose dancer Julia Mach into a virtual three-dimensional space. The dynamics and structure of the music interactively transform the physical and virtual presence of the dancer and her avatars. The music functions as the point of departure and, simultaneously, the consummation of the choreography. Temporal strata and uncommon perspectives overlay one another, engender duplication, and bring out completely new ways of looking at the human body and its sequences of movements.

“Le Sacre du Printemps” visualized by the Ars Electronica Futurelab in collaboration with media artist Klaus Obermaier was performed together with Linz’s Bruckner Orchestra under conductors Dennis Russel Davies and Karen Kamensek at the 2006 Brucknerfest, and together with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in June 2007 at the gala reopening of London’s Royal Festival Hall.

Ars Electronica Futurelab featuring Klaus Obermaier
Artistic design of the visualization and choreography: Klaus Obermaier
Dance: Julia Mach