THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY
Folks find their way in a digital world
Digital Folk is a co-presentation of SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs and the plastic orchid factory comprised of dance artist James Gnam, visual artist Natalie Purschwitz, lighting designer James Proudfoot and 11 dance artists. The multidisciplinary performance/concept looks at the points of intersection between the digital generation’s unique responses to dance, music, art, identity and collective experience.
Irreverent, irrational (perhaps) and interactive, the show seems to be seeking resolution to big questions of human community in an ever-changing, technologically advanced world. It also aims to create a space somewhere between your games room and a freewheeling theatre.
James Gnam had these five points to make about Digital Folk:
1. The Question: “Ten years ago, I watched my cousin Connor and his friends playing Rock Band and they were extremely, fantastically, virtuosically proficient on these fake instruments and it blew my mind. But they couldn’t play a real instrument, so their entire relationship to music and music-making within their community was different to mine. And then I saw my niece playing a dance game on the Wii and watched them watch each other doing these dances and, as a dance artist who has invested my life in a physical practice, it made me aware that they had a whole different way of seeing art. Were these games their new folk practice?”
2. The Research: “Initially, we played a lot of video games, eight hours a day, seven days a week. We played so much that people wondered if we had a grant to play games. But the more we played, the more frustrated we became.”
3. The Concept: “We discovered that the framework and structures within these games was purely reactionary and utterly devoid of the feeling which we need as artists. But the games were there due to a need for people to make music and dance together and experience it. Yet it was extremely isolating. We got together with Natalie to create a world where we could incorporate what we do and also what the games do in an environment that was engaging, interactive and narrative.”
4. The Costumes: “When you come into the space, the audience are invited to wear these amazing costumes like the performers do. Then we all play the games together and see where it goes. It’s possible to engage at every level from front and centre to the periphery just like gaming with friends.”
5.
The Goals: “We certainly have some, I prefer not to divulge. Obviously, we want to see what happens when you unpack the difference between reacting or responding to something and how many people it takes for that to occur over the course of a series of artist-led activities in an hour show.”