Viewmaster (performance)

Ghostly apparitions

In the foyer of the Kaaistudio’s an installation by the choreographers Ula Sickle and Heike Langsdorf and the artist Laurent Liefooghe will be displayed. Viewmaster is inspired by an optical trick often used in nineteenth-century theatre, the so-called Pepper's Ghost illusion. The spectator looks at the stage through an invisible angled wall of glass. What he doesn’t see is that there is another space to the left or right of the stage. When objects or figures are illuminated in this hidden space, they are reflected onto the glass wall so that they appear as ghostly apparitions on stage. Although optical illusions and special effects are constantly used in the art and entertainment industries today, they continue to exert an incredible attraction on audiences; even in an age of high technology the ‘making of’ the illusion continues to be an exciting story.

Viewmaster uses low tech to create disorienting effects. The glass wall is also a window, mirror and projection screen. Using sound, lighting and image, the traditional set-up of theatre and cinema is duplicated and questioned. This is miniature theatre and live cinema all in one!

The installation can be viewed at any time throughout the festival. Sickle and Langsdorf will present a performance in the space at the times indicated.

installation:

30/08/2008, 18:00>23:30
31/08, 2008, 16:00>20:30
05/09/2008, 18:00>21:30
06/09/2008, 19:00>22:30