| VP90 (Release)
Chambers produced and directed VP90 as a pilot project of Release ... to be further developed and produced ... at the Rhode Island School of Design and as a part of First Night Providence in Providence, Rhode Island. This interplay of the animate (dancers/performers) and inanimate (photographic hardware) was well-received by the viewing audience and art critics. The following details the expanded version.
FLASHDANCE
Entire dance troupe performs movements, each member holding a flash unit in each hand; flash units fire periodically and on cue; bursts of light flood the rear screen and the slide screens in synch with the firing of the flashes; troupe moves to music of Phillip Glass’ The Photographer.
INTRODUCTION
Release introduced to audience; the nature of the word, release, is discussed incorporating reverberation each time the word, release, is mentioned.
POLAROID POWER
One dancer, dressed in black unitard, hood and reflective glasses performs dance routine in center of four Polaroid cameras positioned north, south, east and west; as dancer moves, he or she periodically fires all four cameras simultaneously to document a moment from his or her routine; another dancer moves to the cameras and retrieves the exposed prints and gives the exposed set (4) to a member of the audience; as the primary dancer moves to routine, visuals of an aperture are projected onto rear and side screens ... animated to stop down and open up via dissolve units.
TRANSFERENCE
Four dancers continue the Polaroid process by making exposures of audience members as they move throughout the viewing crowd.
PAPARAZZI
Photographer on stage with cameras draped on person and holding camera with telephoto lens and flash unit; six small (standard) projection screens positioned on stage with two projectors and one dissolve unit behind each screen; as photographer moves from point to point with music, images of various situations projected onto screens (one situation per screen) and animated via dissolve; photographer periodically turns toward a particular screen and simulates the making of a photograph by releasing the shutter and firing the flash; as the simulated exposure is made, the particular image on the screen freezes or stops its animation; the routine progresses until all six screens show frozen images; photographer turns to audience and makes a simulated photograph of the viewing crowd.
FLASHFIRE
One dancer, holding a flash unit in each hand, confronts another dancer without flash units; as routine progresses with music, the dancer without the flash units becomes mesmerized by the periodic flashing of the units held by the other dancer until he or she is in a hypnotic state or paralyzed by the action of light sensitization.
VIDEO WALTZ
Female dancer interacts with video camera mounted on a tripod with wheels; dancer moves to waltz music using video camera as dance partner; as the dancer and the video camera move to music, live video coverage from the video camera is projected onto rear and side screens to give the audience a view of the routine from the dance partner’s (video camera) perspective.
TRAVEL LOG
Documentary images are projected onto front screen and script is read to audience as if they (audience) have come over to the house to view vacation photographs; each image is superimposed with another image (of the same locale) made by a typical tourist ... satire and take-off on the typical and boring images made on most vacations.
THE CHASE
One dancer moves to music as images of the same dancer are projected onto rear and side screens; as the images pop in and out on the screens, the dancer attempts to chase his or her image ... a hide-and-seek interplay between the flesh dancer and synthetic dancer (image on screen).
WAR ZONE
A photographer and two dancers as soldiers position themselves behind a makeshift bunker; as combat sounds fill the theater, the three characters react to a combat situation; the photographer periodically makes photographs under fire and the dancers as soldiers periodically simulate the firing of rifles; as routine progresses, the dancers as soldiers succumb to enemy fire and slump over the bunker; near the end of the routine, the photographer, as he or she is rewinding the exposed film and retrieves the exposed roll of film, also succumbs to enemy fire and slumps over the bunker; the spotlight then tightens and focuses on the roll of film in the photographer’s hand; authentic images from the Vietnam War are projected onto rear screens during the routine.
FANTASIES
A male and female position themselves on stage; the female sits on a park bench near left-side screen and the male stands near right-side screen; as their eyes meet, his and her fantasies are projected through images onto the respective screens; the male moves toward the female and a formal meeting/greeting occurs ... a conversation ensues; the fantasies continue on the screens; the two walk toward the back of the stage and their fantasies mesh on the rear screen.
SHADOW PLAY
Two dancers, each positioned in front of a large screen (one per dancer), begin to move to music; as they move, each dancer is shadowed by his or her synthetic image projected onto the respective screens.
DRIVEN
Four dancers interact with cameras and motor-drives mounted onto tripods with wheels; as routine progresses, the dancers move the camera/motor-drive/tripod apparatuses to and fro; the dancers periodically release the shutters of the cameras, causing the motor-drives to advance the film; microphones are attached to the motor-drives to accentuate the sound; the exposed film is later developed as a record of this routine.
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