Collective Body is a collective movement experience in virtual reality that aims to question our rapidly evolving relationship to the increasingly present virtual technology. By inviting participants into expressive movement by using visual and vocal improvisation prompts, participants are eventually brought back to a deeper, more embodied state that encourages them to discover their own movement identities.
This MeMoSa event will explore the analog research that director and Artist-in-Residence Sarah Silverblatt-Buser has undertaken through physical movement games that inspire strong sensations of presence. This movement research will later be translated into virtual movement tasks in collaboration with Parisian new media production company Atlas V. Creative producer and art director, Pierre Zandrowicz, will also be present to discuss this collaborative creative process.
Collective Body has been commissioned by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and is currently in its second development phase.
Sarah Silverblatt-Buser is a dancer, director, and choreographer, centering the sensing and expressive body in all of her work. She moved from NYC to Paris in 2018 to perform internationally with acclaimed cirque artist Yoann Bourgeois. She has choreographed work ranging from a concert relating the music of Steve Reich with the French street art of parkour to an AR experience directed by Gordon for the Musée d’Orsay. She has danced in commercial videos ranging from fashion to public service and most recently performed at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards with Harry Styles. She also dances throughout France with Compagnie 47-49, directed by François Veyrunes. Sarah has written extensively on dance and worked in several major New York City cultural institutions while working as a freelance dance artist before relocating to France.
Pierre Zandrowicz works at the crossroads of video games, theatre, art and film. He considers, examines and tests each new technology, and, if it is deemed viable, he adopts and uses it. His 2019 film Ex Anima, made in collaboration with Bartabas, was shot in stereoscopic 360 and produced by ARTE and MK2. Another of his VR films, made in partnership with Google Arts & Culture, featured the Chauvet Cave to celebrate its inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage list of protected sites. He also directed the sci-fi VR film and Venice Biennale 2020 selection, Mirror. His most recent work, In Search of Time, a poetic, animated generative AI film co-directed with Matt Tierney, was presented at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival.
Doors open at 5:30 PM and MeMoSa begins at 6:00 PM
Capacity in the lab is capped at 45 audience members. Attendees who have RSVP'd before the event will have priority, and admission will be determined on a first come first serve basis on arrival. If you RSVP before the event but you arrive late, we reserve the right to give your spot to someone on the waitlist.
Attendees who have not RSVP'd will be put on a standby waitlist if they arrive in-person before the event.