Suita
( Musiktheater / 20' )
Premiered in
Trafic Festival in Bern.
Title : Suita
Genre : Musiktheater
Duration : ca. 20 minutes
Composer (Audio, Visuals, Dramaturgy) : Arda Yurdusev
Personnel : Arda Yurdusev(Performer), Light Technician, Audio Engineer, Assistant (*optional, for visual cues)
“How much does your life weigh? All those precious memories, moments you cherish, decisions you regret, friends and family you lost along the way… Now imagine you have given a one way ticket to go back to a certain moment, would you have taken it?”
Concept
Suita is a musiktheater piece which features a scene where elements from various realities and timelines collide in a sci-fi ambiance. Traces from the past face the present in dramaturgy where memories from my youth in Japan collide with the arbitrary present.
The stage features two shoji doors (left and right), an object in the middle and the performer sitting behind the object, in between the shoji doors. All three elements mentioned on the stage are mapped with 20 different layers of projection (from a single projector). The object and shoji doors are connected to the shakuhachi and VR glasses (that the performer wears) through various cables.
Throughout the 20 minute piece, two parallel realities are happening. One in realtime, representing the present with the live performer with his shakuhachi; the other reality -past memories- is happening within the VR glasses and visible to the audience through the projection onto the shoji doors.
As the piece develops, we understand that shakuhachi is acting as a gateway for the memories of the performer. It enables the performer to see his past reality as the piece moves from a ritualistic landscape with sumi-e paintings to a sci-fi setting of Shibuya cityscape with neon signs.
In the end, which reality do you think our protagonist will chose, if he was given the chance? Arbitrary sci-fi present or the fond memories from his youth.
Suita | Extended Trailer
Stage Design
Visuals
There are 3 different video files that are being projected simultaneously through a single projector that is mapped (w/Resolume Arena) according to the stage setup. These 3 video files are mapped onto the object, torso of the performer, 2x shoji doors (left and right).
Object
A video loop of the drawing process of 10 abstract sumi-e paintings in the inverted color grading.
Torso (of the Performer)
A video file the drawing process of a sumi-e landscape painting in the inverted color grading.
Shoji Doors (x2, Left and Right )
A video file that follows the dramaturgy of the concept that is mapped precisely to the white paper surfaces of the shoji doors, leaving out the wooden parts. The doors have a base video file that is in 60x160 dimensions (for each door). It is mapped with 9 (18 in total for the two doors) polygon slices/layers in Resolume Arena. Below you may find some base samples and the final render examples.
Excerpts from Visual Render Processes
