When I asked Wu-Kang and Ray Sun how this project started, they said that when they met several years ago, they knew they wanted to work with each other, but not for each other.  What emerged is this ever-evolving piece which places the moving body, video, light, and sound on an even playing field–emphasis on play!

And as for the field itself, it’s an hour long, divided into twelve five minute segments.  Before each performance, we held a ceremony of chance.  Using the I Ching, we determined which departments (if any!) would participate in each five minute segment.  Then, we discovered the hexagram, and interpreted the story in the Chinese divinatory text.  Each department had twelve words for this interpretation–words like birth, illness, formation, conclusion, twist, death.  We placed the words on our spaces on the board, and that would be our show. 

While each department had a basic motif for each word, nothing was set in stone.  From performance to performance, there was no telling who may or may not be performing at any given moment, or what that department’s word would be.  Improvisation, intuition, watching, listening, and responding were key.  And at the end of each five minutes, a new idea would begin.

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Wu-Kang and Ray Sun said they wanted the performers to have the same experience as and audience would–experiencing something new and unknown each time.  Liveness was essential and each department was a performer.  Have you ever seen an improvised lighting solo?  Well we did!