DARK PLANET

LIVE PERFORMANCE

Title : DARK PLANET / Genre: Real time audio/visual
Production: Lernlabor
Music/sound-design/mix: Tidiane Cacique / VR visual: Vartan Markarian
Release date: 21st of January 2021

DARK PLANET transports us into a post-apocalyptic future or parallel world that stands in opposition to nature and humankind. The visual material was created in Virtual Reality using an Oculus Quest VR helmet, with an initial playback video giving way to live VR Cam Capture in Poltava, where VARTAN MARKARIAN uses the Tilt Brush program to paint and alter the dystopian landscape in real-time. In Berlin, TIDIANE CACIQUE provides a live electronic musical accompaniment on his Prophet '08 synthesizer. With camera shots panning between the performance spaces in both cities and the live capture from Vartan’s headset, DARK PLANET conjures a thrilling and disorienting experience of triality.

360° performance in Krakow for: PatchLab Festival

NFT VIDEO VERSION

The performance serves as both a warning and explicit critique of an anthropocentric logic which accelerates the exploitation of resources and implies the total destruction of ecosystems that are not of economic value. Mankind has ventured into the status of a biocenotic aggressor – an adventive species adapting and exploiting his environment to serve his own needs. The burning wastelands of DARK PLANET are the corollary of this hubris. But this collaborative work by VARTAN MARKARIAN and STACY.O ends on a cautiously optimistic note, suggesting the possibility of palingenesis. For that we must rekindle our ties with the environment we inhabit and find harmony within ourselves as a species and with the wider world.

DARK PLANET is one of seven performances that took place during the hybrid project a:part–Berlin-Poltava. a:part showcases the collaborative work of young German and Ukrainian-based artists, who have performed together live, but are yet to meet in person.



CREDITS: BERLIN Team Curator and Art Director – Polina Tikk Project Manager – Peter Mitchell Tech Director – Vincent Vidal Camera and Light – Rasmus Bell Camera Gimbal – Krystsina Shyla Streaming – Moving Systems Streaming sketch – Timur Novikov Sound Engineer and Sound Post-Production – Vincent Vidal Video Editing – Polina Tikk Curatorial Text – Peter Mitchell Production Assistance – Remi Recoque Catering – Michelle Giuingi