Chrysalis, live at Market Hall (12 min. 2013) Video-mapping performance and design by Lester Alfonso, captured in front of an audience on May 9, 2013.
It’s a Vimeo and Facebook premiere today of something that was previously only available on YouTube. A grant application required a Vimeo link; I had to re-upload this old file. This Archive Upload on Day 75 ends up hitting two birds with one stone. If the grant is successful, we get to create something new. If not, at least this testimony will remain.
Chrysalis was the sophomore collaboration between myself, (Opal) Jennifer Elchuk, Tegan Moss, and Jared Bremner (aquapher) for Public Energy’s Emergency Festival. It was described in the program as an “Evolution from Revolutions,” because it was literally a follow up to our well-received first show from Emergency #19. Today’s video captured the performance of Chrysalis in front of an audience on May 9, 2013.
What we do is a hybrid of video projection-mapping and circus arts. The program description continued to describe the themes we were working with: “a meditation on the struggle to balance light and dark. A journey from the Root to the Crown. A story told through aerial silk acrobatics, hoop dance, and video design.” And it gave a special thanks to Wayne Elliott, Mark Segal, and Bill James for their consultations.
What I remember was that all visual and sonic decisions were dictated by the Chakras which are defined as “various focal points in the subtle body used in a variety of ancient meditation practices.”
I followed the rubric closely as we moved from one point to another upward from the root. Each chakra point corresponds to a specific colour and chord from which I anchored my transitions. The graphic design of the chakra symbols came modifications I made from files uploaded to the public domain by a rogue artist.
Each chakra point is said to rest in a specific part of the body and associate with a specific colour and symbolizes elements from our lives. Subtly, we also wanted to reflect on each chakra with the relationship evoked through movement between the two performers.
- Red – root/base of the spine, earth, security, home
- Orange – sacrum – sexuality/creativity
- Yellow – solar-plexus power, strength
- Green – heart, love, connection
- Blue – throat, speech, self-expression
- Indigo – third eye, vision, imagination
- White – the crown of the head, spiritual connection, oneness
More soon! Stay tuned! —LA
P.S. If you’re liking these daily posts, perhaps you can consider becoming a monthly donor for a year or making a one-time contribution. It would seriously help a lot. Your money goes directly into supporting an artist committed to continually become the best version of himself. Thank you so much! Much love, LA