Reincarnation

Directed by, visuals and programming by Memo Akten
Choreography by Alexander Whitley
Dancers Robin Gladwin and Miguel Altunaga

“Reincarnation” is an off-shoot film born while creating visuals for The Rambert Dance Company and flat-e‘s “Iatrogenesis” performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank, London UK.

Created with custom software (c++ using openframeworks + opencv + opengl) tracking the motion of the dancers and generating these visuals, abstract layers containing subtle hints of human forms and motion.

This film (and music)  is not representative of the visuals (and music) of flat-e & Rambert’s “Iatrogenesis”. This is a standalone film born from working on that project.

When the clip starts, you probably won’t recognize a human shape at first, but your eyes and mind will be searching, seeking mental connections between abstract shapes and recognizable patterns, like looking for shapes in clouds. You’ll be questioning what you see, is that it? is it sitting? is it crouching? is it kneeling? Then all of a sudden, it’ll be crystal clear. Then you’ll try and keep it in focus, following it as it moves around, tracking each limb, using the motion to construct an image of the parts you can’t see. It’ll fade in and out of clarity. At times you’ll be clinging onto just the tip of it’s hand swinging round, trying to identify any other recognizable parts. You might see another arm or leg and grab onto it, fighting not to lose it. Then it’ll be crystal clear again, and then all of a sudden vanish, literally in a puff of smoke, and your eyes will start searching again.