Monday, April 22, 2019
This immersive theatre project is so psychedelic it's now become a science experiment
WIRED UK: “The show ended, the lights came on, and the guests are lying on their backs, holding hands, shaking, sweating – tears, snot, drool – vibrating, unable to move for about 45 minutes,” says Sean Rogg. Surprisingly, Rogg isn’t describing the scenes of an internment camp or some other unspeakable horror. He’s talking about his latest art piece, Barzakh, an immersive experience like no other.
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7 comments:
The thing that intrigues me the most about this is the logistics of how they go about finding audience members for this experience. I imagine that there must be some sort of waiver involved to get permission from these audience members to be essentially traumatized, and then the logistics of also involving them in a scientific experience is also intriguing. I also think that as a concept using theater and immersive art experiences in conjunction with clinical psychology could actually yield really useful results, and I think that there are more benefits that could be had from this type of voluntary experimentation. I'd also just like to point out that this experiment as a whole kind of reminds me of Rube- spontaneous crying and being traumatized by an experience but then feeling like a changed person when you come out of it. Maybe the next freshman class should be the focus of a psychologists research, since the entire thing feels like an experiment anyways. and of course, we all need therapy when it's over.
What a wild article. First of all, this type of immersive and ground shattering experience would never be allowed in the United States because nothing we do is ever truly immersive. Second, I think that the ability to simulate an empathetic experience and then for scientists to examine the patron’s experiences and how they’re affected is super cool. I love seeing the collaboration between artists and scientists. It’s truly incredible that this art piece is something that scientists are unable to replicate and therefore, they’re just using this somewhat visceral and artistically driven experience to collect data about empathy. I’m not so sure that I believe that this production will open doors to senses that have yet to be discovered, but this articles provides some really interesting information about science, art, and their collaboration. Psychology is such an interesting science and there are so many unknowns that exist in the world that revolve around the human psyche. I’d love to see where this data collection takes the field.
I do not know if I would actually like to go see this show or not. It seems like it would be an interesting time and a worthwhile endeavor, but it also sounds like… a lot. It is rather mind blowing that they are actually able to bring in enough ticket sales to stay afloat, but I guess that means they are onto something. Recreating a religious experience in a controlled environment like this reminds me of the experiment where people activate certain parts of people’s brains and cause them to see visions of God or other spirits. It seems like under the right circumstances, you can alter the mind enough to make it think that what it is seeing/ experiencing is something much bigger than they are. It is an interesting social experiment to think about in seeing how people will bond with another as they go through an ordeal like this.
All I can say about this art project/ theatrical experience/ experiment is wow. It reminds me of some of the haunted houses like McKamey Manor in San Diego or ScareHouse in Pittsburgh that are known for being incredibly immersive and hands on, but this is taken to a new level where people are actually being monitored, experimented on, and tested. It is crazy that an artist is actually doing this, and I am wondering about the effects that it has on people long term beyond this, especially because I would argue that these are not being observed or monitored in a safely controlled environment. The data that is being received I would also argue is skewed to an extent, since the data that they are receiving from people who are voluntarily going to the theatrical experience, and adrenaline junkies to say the least. I think the combination of theatrical experience and clinical psychology is very interesting and can produce some incredible results, but I think that it is important that when conducting these types of experiments, the conditions in which data is observed and collected is crucial.
Umm how is this legal/ok? After reading this article twice and looking up the Waldrof Project I still don't quite understand what is going on in the performance or with the company for that matter. And while I can say that I defiantly don't understand it at all that doesn't mean I'm not intrigued in fact I would love to try and see what goes on in this world. The idea of touching and singling out every sense and phobia in a series of four hours with a group of silent people must sound terrifying to most people and far from something that most people would want to try. That being said I think there is also inherent value in these kind of experiences and "episodes" just as these scientist see these feelings that they are able to create are unique and rare in our world. This sort of theatre is something that I'm starting to see more and more in our world and I wonder just how popular it will get as it progress with artist and visionaries like Sean Rogg.
I don’t think this is something that I would ever want to be a part of. Just the description that appeared on the greenpage is enough to tell me that I don’t need this kind of experience. Having an immersive experience be impactful and all-consuming is oftentimes the goal, but I don’t think reducing people to tears, shaking, sweating, borderline catatonic states is a goal of a sane person, and I don’t think I am alone in that opinion. I am slightly confused as to who exactly is volunteering to be a “guest” in this experience. Every phobia that people have being singled out like this is terrifying, even reading it made me uncomfortable to some degree. There is no amount of catharsis that could follow this that would make up for that kind of trauma, in my opinion. The line “they’ve gone through this sort of collective Stockholm Syndrome and connected” really just tells you what you need to now. I don’t think any performance is justifiably like this, and I am even more hesitant at the turning of this into some psychotic science experiment.
My immediate response is that I have no idea how to respond to such a piece. As an artist, I always strive for empathetic collaboration and products. But this does seem to be taking it to a far extreme that I don’t think I am comfortable with. I don’t want my audience member, who has graciously lent me their time, energy, and trust, to leave with any kind of trauma that literally affects their psychological and physiological state-- but that’s just me. It is fascinating that people are willingly participating in these performances and that the result is in fact the artist’s intention. I wonder why the artist believes it to be his personal responsibility to affect the psychology of his audiences on this level, especially by the means of such elaborate and extensive experiences. Maybe there is something to be gained on one end or another, but I can’t bring myself to agree with the notion that art has to be so brutally extreme to foster empathy and compassion.
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