Gaia is hanging by a thread...

Taurin Barrera

Image credit: Taurin Barrera

• Format: Live Performance
• Session: concert-2
• Paper PDF link
• Presence: In person
• Duration: 7
• Location: 25, 26, not 27

Abstract:

Gaia is hanging by a thread… is an interactive audiovisual performance that explores the delicate balance between technology, humanity, and our planet’s ecosystem. This approximately 6-minute performance aligns primarily with solarpunk aesthetics, offering a critical contemplation of electronic art, sustainability, and collective eco-consciousness through audience interaction and connection.

At the heart of this performance is the Solar Punk Console, a solar-powered capacitive synthesizer that embodies the solarpunk ethos of sustainable technology and community interconnectedness. This synthesizer not only harnesses solar energy but also invites audience participation, as conductive threads connected to the Solar Punk Console’s synthesis control inputs are deployed into the audience during performance. Participants are encouraged to hold, manipulate, or pass these threads, forming a complex electronic circuit within the performance venue. This interaction directly impacts both the audio output and the visual atmosphere of the performance space using audiovisual processing software created in Max. This piece utilizes feedback in both audio and visual systems to blur the lines between performer, audience, and environment, as collective actions of the audience shape a interwoven synesthetic sensory experience in real-time.