Touch Me Hear

“Sloshing and banging sounds are supplanted by squeaks, deep breathing, windy wails and a haunting dark melody line, reminiscent of Twin Peaks. Sounds emanate from various sources, including the costume’s wig, as the tethered performers advance toward the bare dance floor.” Miami New Times

Touch Me Hear is an experimental multimedia work that explores the relationship between touch, sound and movement conceived and directed by Juraj Kojs. Body parts and its extensions such as hair and clothes become performable musical instruments. From skin sensations to complex digital tactile simulations, the piece exposes disappearing awareness between what can be felt and what actually is. A continuum of scenes filled with humor, solitude and emotionally charged movement contemplate the contemporary world of intertwined vibrations and modalities. The scenes explore various manifestations of human and machine-induced tactile sensations. The performers become musical instruments and their bodies and movements are mapped to acoustic and electronic sounds. The sounds and performance actions develop from congruent to mismatched pairs. Touch Me Hear engages various custom-designed sensor and actuator technologies.

New Electronic Arts Festival video

Details

Year composed: 2013
Instrumentation: movement, touch, sensors and computer sound
Duration: ca. 25′
Commissioned by the Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center

Juraj Kojs, direction, sound and music
Carlota Pradera, choreography and performance
JoAnna Ursal, performance
Kim Yantis, costumes

With support of Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center, Inkub8, Foundation for Emerging Technologies and Arts, Medialogy (Aalborg University Copenhagen, Denmark), Department of Aesthetics and Communication – Information Science, Aarhus University, Denmark.

Performance History

May 31, 2013 at Inkub8, Miami, FL
June 1, 2013 at Inkub8, Miami, FL
June 14, 2013 at The Bridge, Miami, FL
June 15, 2013 at The Bridge, Miami, FL
June 30, 2013 at New York Electronic Arts Festival, New York at River to River Festival