★★★☆
Experimental performance art often has the feel of a taster – you’re given the hints of something great, even transformative, but it’s gone all too soon. Wade Marynowsky’s technology-laden collaboration has this air to it, as it indicates both engineering precision and depth of thought, but is over as quickly as it starts.
Marynowsky has brought together noise art, robotics and the spatial sensitivities of Performance Space alumni Branch Nebula to craft an immersive work in which eight automatons, differentiated only by pulsing light patterns, guide the audience through a song and dance that is both inclusive and confrontational.
Earbuds are handed out before the performance as an indicator of the sonic assault that awaits from musician Julian Knowles. His huge, percussive soundtrack dominates proceedings and is perfectly suited to the cavernous spaces of Carriageworks.
The robots themselves do not showcase much individual personality, beyond the distinctive patterning, but this is of course part of the work’s charm. The real performance is left to the audience members – once they work out the specifics of the machines before them, it’s their interactions that drive the work forward. There’s something intensely magnetic to seeing ourselves through the lens of these machines, and it’s fascinating to see people shift and change once observed.
Though not often a work of great physicality, the unexpected can happen in any show of this nature, as evidenced by seeing a spinning bot knock a man nearly off his feet. The slight danger of being in the space with these machines is a thrill, mitigated by the presence of controllers high above the show floor.
As the last machine comes to a halt and flickers out, it dawns that the work has barely spanned more than half an hour – disappointing, considering the efforts put into it. As is, it feels better suited to an installation-style work in public space, as opposed to an individually ticketed, standalone show.
Marynowsky’s bots do not outstay their welcome, and in fact leave far too soon. Baroque yet brief, this opera has more to offer.
Robot Operaplayed at Carriageworks from Wednesday October 28 – Sunday November 1 as part of Liveworks 2015.
