this is the final draft for the text of the ars electronica cataolog, I
will send it tomorrow (27.5) 10.00 my time;
just in case if you find any corrections, pls let me know
Mon %)
oudeis - a world wide odyssey=20
Genesis
It all began with a meeting of artists, Arts agents and University
Professors where they talked about possibilities of reducing youth
unemployment in Austria. This was followed by a birthday party of a large
family and dinner in an open air restaurant bringing together theater
practicians and recipients, theater and computer freaks.
Tradition
The experimental and alternative theater in the 20th century brought with
it a break with tradition in theater conferring stage building, texts and
performing. Already in the 1920ies Italian Futurist Enrico Prampolini
pondered about eliminating the proscenium stages because they reduce the
dramatic action.
In the 1960ies the Fringe movement forced the artists to step out of the
conventional playhouses, to find new scenes and include their audience more
actively into the event. Experimenting with new techniques and ways of
production became the distinguishing element of the groups included in the
Fringe Theater Movement, as stated by Pip Simmons in 1979. In trying to
live up to the developments of modern theater art, new media like film,
photography, video or television was soon incorporated into the productions
of alternative theater, and new creative processes were being searched. The
visual aspects dominate especially in the "performance art" branch of the
English Fringe Theater movement. In the "actor- and writer-based
companies", collective work and experimenting with theatrical means of
expression is used.=20
*The theatre is changing. Not before our eyes, but in our perception of its
traditional physical space.=20
Andrew Garton*
The new found places are widely spread: former movie theaters and factory
halls, and also the street is used as a performing place. These public
locations were recently enlarged through the exploration of the electronic
space.=20
Internet
The theatrical scene of the Internet evolved from meeting places in the Net
built by theater theoreticians and artists for exchanging information and
experience, and for the development of new projects. These are centered
around several discussion lists and the communication environment of
ATHEMOO. The virtual space of ATHEMOO was designed by Dr. Juli Burk,
Associate Professor of Theatre in the University of Hawaii, in June 1995.
It provides theater people the possibility of synchronous meetings.
*The effective combination of live theatre and the Internet is very tricky!
Dan Zellner*
A play can be performed with the use of the Internet in various ways. It is
not absolutely necessary to build a whole new place in the Internet to
perform a play. A stage can be situated in some of the already existing
rooms, the online meeting places. Performances have already taken place as
early as 1993 in the text-based environments IRCand later in the MOO (Multi
User Dimension Object Oriented). Furthermore there are experiments with the
more "colorful" surrounding of the two-dimensional chat place "Palace," and
with the use of CU-SeeMe videoconferencing software, which includes real
time video and audio.=20
Collective Collaboration
In the theatrical production of oudeis - a world wide odyssey, the
collaborative creative work, a working situation in the fringe tradition,
was enlarged to a world wide collaboration. Via the medium Internet people
from various continents and cultural environments gathered together.
Starting from a small local group in Vienna, there are now a number of
people involved who communicate via email and in online meetings.=20
*Here we are, all participating in the gestation of this giant beast known
as The Oudeis Project.
L.H. Grant*
Via three mailinglists, concerning the organization, the dramaturgy and the
technical aspects, the world wide communication is established. By using
the service of Listserv mailinglists, information can be exchanged easily
between a big group of people. In addition to that a synchronous way of
communication is necessary for the creativity as well. Regular meetings of
the world wide team take place in the environment of ATHEMOO.=20
Odyssey=20
Over 2600 years ago, Homer told the famous story of the wanderings of
Odysseus. Many theories deal with the metaphor of the places that Odysseus
has visited till he returned to Ithaca after ten years. As described by
Christine Pellech in Die Odyssey. Eine antike Weltumsegelung, (Berlin:
Reimer 1983), his wanderings lead him all across The Seven Seas. Using the
description given by Homer (directions, ocean currents, blowing of the
wind, days of traveling ...) she finds a possible route of this world tour.
*Odysseus wants to go home!
Monika Wunderer*
Several works now reinterpret the journey and stations of Odysseus in a
contemporary way. Artists of our century were also inspired by thoughts of
changing distances and significance of locations, an outstanding example is
Walter Grond in his Absolut Homer (Droschl, 1996).
Odysseus=92 journey constitutes an excellent metaphor for illustrating the
theory of acceleration, the shrinking of the world to a global village.
Instead of traveling along the sea-routes, Odysseus will go along the lines
of the Internet.
*Big tnx for these amazing thoughts. From the technical point of view:
Everything is possible, it's just a question of money, time and bandwidth.
Rainer F=FCgenstein*
Oudeis
The structure of the play is influenced by the form of ancient Greek
tragedies. The seven Epeisodia, i.e. the scenes, are framed by Stasima, the
songs of the choros. Each Epeisodion stages one of the stories Odysseus has
to go through on the different stations of his journey, taken out of
Homer=92s Epos "The Odyssey". Odysseus travels to the island of Cyclops,
where he meets cruel Polyphem, the Island of Aeolus, lord of the winds, the
Island of Aeaea, home of beautiful Circe, he even arrives in Hades till he
rests for some years on Ogyia, the Island of Calypso, before he returns to
faithful Penelope in Ithaca.
*the world does NOT speak in English... I think there are more than a
hundred live languages on it... that's what 'worldwide' would mean to me!
Santiago Pereson*
Each actor will speak in his mother tongue. The interaction between the
stages in different parts of the world will produce multilingual dialogs.
The Stasima between the scenes are sung in Greek. Odysseus is traveling
virtually from stage to stage, from city to city, from venue to venue. In
every Epeisodion another audience in another country can see a real actor
playing Odysseus. This actor is represented by a light cone on the other
stages.=20
People on every stage, on every location, will have the possibility to
watch the performance at the same time. They will see real actors interact
with virtual ones, hearing the words of Homer.
*I would worry if there is no concentration on the audience, for without an
audience is there really a performance?=20
Nina LeNoir=20
Choros
Besides participating in one of the theaters there will be the possibility
to access the performance via Internet. This gives the opportunity to not
only see the ongoings on the stages but also take an active part in the
performance. Stasima, parts sung by the choros, will be seen and heard
between the Epeisodia. The choros in the tragedy represented the people. In
oudeis the choros will represent the audience which follows the play on
their computer screens, a special opportunity for this audience to interact
and comment on the play.=20
*music is dressed silence
Santiago Pereson*
Sounds of voices singing 'a capella' in Greek, composed by an international
group round Santiago Pereson, will be produced by instructions sent by the
virtual audience during the play. A loudspeaker system will broadcast this
sound on every stage. The sum of these voices will sound like a chorus,
each voice being 'triggered' by someone over the net. Most of these voices
will be processed to have a 'realAudio' sound, the sound format most used
in the Internet.
Prototype
The worldwide opening of the global theater performance of oudeis - a world
wide odyssey will take place in 1998. The complex idea and its realization
leave some questions unanswered. A prototype of the stage and performing
concept is supposed to answer some of these and pose new ones. Furthermore
the different levels of development of the world wide partners will be
aligned. In a real life meeting of the participants, some of which only
know each other virtually, on this year=92s Ars Electronica the further
perspectives of the project will be worked out.
*how do you show a real actor making love with a virtual actor or even more
problematic, a virtual actor making love with another virtual actor?
L.H. Grant*
Working arrangements on two scenes, which will be shown as open rehearsals
on two stages, will inquire into and explore the interaction between real
and virtual actors. The transmission setups and the inclusion of the active
participation via the World Wide Web will also be tested.
One hour=20
In the unity of time and space of role-playing and watching theater
emerges. It is oudeis=92 aim to reach this oneness by surpassing geographica=
l
borders.=20
*TwylaM-S says, "I really think that it is. It's slated for next spring, I
think."
SantiagoP says "autumn here..."=20
Talk at ATHEMOO*
The Interaction between the stages and its visualization shall take place
in "real time", the late night show of one continent will therefore be seen
as a matinee on another. Time zones, duration of transmitting and rapidity
are included as additional elements into the directing concept. =20
Progress
*... for a dramaturgical representation of the Net as the other protagonist
in the performance
Boris Karnikowski*
Life is blown into the lightcones by an idea revolutionary to theater. It
will be one of the first times that what an actor really feels while
playing is shown. Acting never shows the real emotions of an actor but the
emotions of the character he or she is playing. Assumed that the actors of
Odysseus and his companions do not really fear for their lives while being
together with cruel Polyphem on stage, an audience member is never able to
see what the actors really concentrate on in this certain moment.
*i think virtual actors should not be light cones but virtual actors. more
than a beam of light should be within them.
Santiago Pereson*
The use of special sensor technique that the actors are carrying will show
these emotions normally hidden. The data gathered from these sensors is
transformed into light information conferring colors and intensity. The
positions of the actors are scanned via the light systems of the stages.
All this information is transported via the Internet to the other stages
and produces the virtual actors there. For sure the performance will look
different on each evening, because the virtual actors, as a visualization
of the real actors, are real living and feeling human beings, and not
previously programmed light variations.
Documentation
As a work in progress, this project already exists in its ongoing
discussion, in the work on its development and its reflection of the
artistic and theatrical scene.
*Long live Oudeis!
L.H. Grant*
To document the ongoing progress in the collaborative work of the oudeis
team, beside what is found in the hypermail archives of the discussion
lists, a monthly newspaper called "Status Quo" was established in Summer
1996. It is available via World Wide Web where it can also be downloaded as
a printable version. Since its first edition it is growing steadily and is
now documenting not only the development of the oudeis project but also
presenting other projects currently staged with the use of the Internet all
around the world.
Routing
In 1998 the map of Odysseus=92 world tour will be redrawn to a world tour
appropriate for the 20th century, according to the possible routes of a
data packet finding its path through a Network.=20
*Die Odyssey ist episch angelegt, dehnt sich =FCber Jahre aus und wird
beschleunigt zu einer Stunde.
Gernot Lechner*