Inferno is a robotic performance inspired by the representation of the different levels of hell as described in Dante's Inferno or the Singaporean Haw Par Villa's Ten Courts of Hell (which is based on a Chinese Buddhist representation). In Inferno, the "circles of hell" concept is mainly an artistic framework, a general working theme under which the different parts of the performance are regrouped. It is observed that under these two cultural representations, each "level of hell" corresponds to a particular form of punishment for a particular sin. In the many depictions of Hell, the punishments are always carried on the human body and not directly at the psychological level. The excruciating pain and also the eternal aspect of the punishment induces the latter.
The specificity of this performance resides in the fact that the different machines involved in the show are installed on the viewers' body. The public then becomes an active part of the performance. Sometimes the viewers are free to move; sometimes they are in a partial or entire submission position, forced by the machines to act/react in a certain way. Some mechanical elements coerce the viewers in performing certain movements; others induce a physical reaction from them. For this performance of about an hour long, we have built 25 wearable robotic structures very similar to exoskeletons.
About the performance
Inferno: The Man-machine Dance
Artists: Bill Vorn, Louis-Philippe Demers
Dates: Sep. 28th – Sep. 30th
Venue: CAFA COIIAB Lab Space
Courtesy of the artists, for further information please visit www.bmab.co or visit http://billvorn.concordia.ca or www.processing-plant.com.
