An Object Orientation: A Theatrical Reexamination of the Man and Machine Struggle in the Information Age

Fig. 4. A scene from San Francisco based Modus Ensemble's play An Object Orientation, written and directed by Timothy O'Brien. The play was presented in July and August of 1994 at Cowell Theater in San Francisco. In this scene, the actors playing the software characters move the "search" for meaning in a world of information to a higher level of abstraction. (Photo: Jim Block) EROS explores private issues in a public context. It is a very open-ended interaction in that a real-time record mode lets the viewer/user determine their own uncensored response in both video and audio forms. A practical limitation imposed on the work (due to physical limitations of computer memory) arbitrarily allocates 5 MB per person to maximize the number of responses. AnArchy Partycam (©1995) (Fig. 3) is comprised of an interactive performance and two costumes that I designed with Rob Terry [3]. One costume has a camera that "sees"; the other costume projects the camera's display. Both costumes can act separately , but for the display to work the cooperation of both participants is required . Voluntary cooperation and collaboration inspire the human interfaces inside the costumes to combine the elements in a coordinated effort of spontaneous interaction. The viewer/participant becomes the display and object of curiosity, bridging gaps between "in" and "out" and "us" and "them." I am committed to a multidisciplinary , multicultural and multimedia approach to art making. My work often deals with interactivity, audience participation using intuitive innovative interfaces , multi-user systems that promote cooperative unique experiences and observations of collective group dynamics. Through the use of new technologies and computers, the interfaces remain simple to use and nontechnological . This is meant to maximize audience participation and creative experiences in a non-threatening way. Some of these interfaces have included, but are not limited to: floor sensors, light wands, musical instruments that "play" images and other provocative intuitive replacements for the more traditional computer mouse and keyboard. Currently I am working with real-time input (video and audio) from participants for open-ended interactive experiences. Notes 1. The Sun DropsIts Toren is an Amiga-based interactive installation with custom software and floor sensors, video laser-disc player, video lava rock sculpture and interactive multimedia CD-ROM. 2. EROS INterACTiveuses Silicon Graphics Indy, Custom Software, video and audio. 3. AnArchyPartycamis a portable real-time video and audio performance. AN OBJECT ORIENTATION: A THEATRICAL REEXAMINATION OF THE MAN AND MACHINE STRUGGLE IN THE INFORMATION AGE Timothy O'Brien, Modus Ensemble, 161 Russ Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, U.SA In some ways, both theater and technology provide a model of the real world that can mirror people, places and events. What happens when you combine these two models into one view of the world? In the summer of 1994, San Francisco -based Modus Ensemble presented the premiere of the play An ObjectOrientation . The play is a fable about man's search for meaning in a world influenced by technology and defined by information [1]. As artistic director of Modus Ensemble, I wrote and directed the play, which was created for a theater -going public curious about the ever-increasing impact of technology on our culture and continues the artistic man-and-machine exploration that began earlier in this century. Modus Ensemble, whose mission is to push the boundaries of theater, dance and music by exploring humanistic concerns in today's evolving information age, presented this technologically influenced drama by using the most powerful medium-human beings. No computers or special monitors were used on stage. An ObjectOrientation is the story of two Waiting For Godot-like characters, If and Loop, who come from the older, structured software world of the past. These two have searched for a missing piece of data for so long that the search has become meaningless. They appeal to a group of software "objects"-personified in the playas human characters -for aid in their efforts to solve the mystery and update their quest. Agreeing to help, the objects start a search, briefly touching on aspects of history, life and popular culture. These six objects adopt the manner of Pirandello's Six Characters in Search ofan Author by...