Imagine if you could capture a snapshot of every bit of data being generated in a single moment in time. Every TikTok video, stock market move, Reddit post, pizza order, Tinder swipe, Covid case. Every ship sailing every sea. Every drop of rain in the world. Every bit of information being stored as a 0 and a 1.
kdmindustries (who have relocated from Sydney to Fremantle) return with their latest and greatest sonic and visual deconstruction ‘All I Ever Am’ for two nights only at The Rechabite on Thursday 6 May and Friday 7 May at 7pm.
Featuring stunning visuals and a powerfully immersive soundtrack ‘All I Ever Am’ is electronic visual theatre – a sensory mash of real time web scrapes, generative video and modular sound, exploring 40 trillion gigabytes of information and the rise of data as the most valuable resource in the world.
Creator Mark Haslam says the number of bytes in the digital universe is 40 times more than the number of stars in the observable universe.
“The scale of data creation and harvesting is breathtaking,” he explains. “All of this raw information is stored in hundreds of football-ground-sized buildings all over the world – and that’s just Amazon and Google.
“In ‘All I Ever Am’ we harness technological power and some manic creative coding to take you on a joyous trip through this raw information,” he says. “Technology is often viewed as an opposing element to humanity, but through this production we explore just how human it is – how all those 1s and 0s are testament to the human need to build and connect.”
Haslam is a performance designer who’s worked with leading arts companies across performance, dance, music and visual arts, building major projects with Societas Raffaello Sanzio, Marrugeku, Branch Nebula, erth Visual and Physical, Stalker Theatre, Force Majeure, Legs on the Wall, Belvoir St and Sydney Theatre Company as well as lighting-up some of the world’s top DJs (Fatboy Slim, Carl Cox, Sasha) and fashion houses (Alexander MacQueen, Gucci).
Following on from previous kdmindustries projects, ‘PRVCY’ (developed at Perth Institute of Contemporary Art in 2016/2017), ‘CONCRETE:heartbeat’ (Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth from 2010-2015), and ‘project:ALICE’ (2009-2010), Haslam acts as both a performer and technical operator, mixing real-time data streams with both live and harvested video content and manipulated spoken text.
“The images stream to both a large rear projection screen behind me and onto a holographic scrim downstage, creating unique images that wrap around us,” he says. “Each visual has a sonic equivalent created by James Luscombe, which trigger precisely with the images, creating a layering of information that ebbs and flows as a live realisation of network traffic.”
Creating (and performing) the sonic compositions is James Luscombe – a sound engineer and designer who specialises in live mixing and performance programming/composition for dance and theatre. He’s previously worked with Black Swan Theatre Company, Barking Gecko Theatre Co, Perth Theatre Company, Maxima, Steps Dance Co and Performing Lines, and has toured the world with the likes of The Cat Empire, RÜFÜS Du Sol, Golden Features, Gang of Youths, Vera Blue and San Cisco.
‘All I Ever Am’ is a powerful, visceral and cathartic experience for audiences who exist ever more in digital space. Tickets on sale now.
ALL I EVER AM
Dates: Thursday 6 May & Friday 7 May, 7pm
Venue: The Rechabite Hall [seated performance] Address: 224 William Street, Northbridge WA 6003 Price (first release):
$20 + BF Click for tickets