Space Sporification
Durational multi-media performance
2020-2022
This immersive performance invites the audience to explore fluid identities and shared experiences through an interplay of live action, sound, visuals, and biometric response. At the center of this experience is a performer acting as a facilitator, guiding participants through an evolving space animated by personal and collective energies.
The heart of the performance is a virtual “planty-spaceship” projected into the space. This animated entity moves and dances, responding in real time to the average heartbeat of the audience, recorded by wearable sensors named “Herma.” These sensors create an immediate link between individual and collective rhythms, merging the audience's physical signals with the digital movement of the spaceship.
Layered with this visual dynamic are intimate audio recordings: interviews with queer individuals who share insights on their identities through open-ended questions. Each voice offers unique perspectives, from envisioning alternative procreation processes to reimagining queer identities as shapes, objects, or entities. Together, they shape the performance's atmosphere, inviting the audience to feel, listen, and reflect on the diversity of queer experiences
To sustain the fluid, immersive atmosphere, the performer uses a foam machine as a playful, tactile element. This "spreading substance" reinforces the theme of fluidity, echoing the non-fixed nature of both the spaceship’s movement and the narratives heard.
Space Sporification transforms the history of body signal technology — often used for categorization — into a medium of connection. Here, sensors channel communal energies into a shared, inclusive experience, transforming the space into “a techno futuristic café”, an immersive space where queer identities and stories can find renewal, resonance, and belonging.
Interview participants:
Aph, Len, Elina, Eden, Hannah, Axel, Brontë, Harvey, Aga, Fran, Alba, Adam, Clarinda, Alex, Jack, MV and Ruby
Transcription help:
Miranda Stuart
Unity Programming :
Selina Leung (aileenacs)
Kunstmuseum St-Gallen, Switzerland
Curated by Martina Morger and Laura Van Der Tas
2021
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Photography of the performance by mani froh and Fabienne Watzke
