OBSERVER: Kagami
Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away in 2023 but, with the aid of mixed reality pioneers, Tin Drum, he performs again in the world of virtual reality. This installation is part of the Asia Topa festival showcasing artists from the Asia-Pacific.
The audience wears VR goggles. They can walk around the image of Sakamoto as he plays and see every detail of his performance; the keys of the piano moving, the hammers hitting the strings and the expression on Sakamoto’s face.
We are conscious of others viewing the virtual image but can see through them meaning we are in a world of our own. At the same time, Tin Drum creates an elaborate world where leaves fly, rain falls and where an entire solar system emerges around the viewer.
There is scope, perhaps, for a consistent narrative to be built around Sakamoto’s music rather than have individual pieces each with their own visuals.
It is also an uncanny feeling being isolated in a performance with the technology cutting one off from the immediate but, at the same time, immersing you in a whole other world.
This is a unique sensory experience and the technological domain of VR will develop with sharper edges making reality and the virtual almost indiscernible from each other. The question remains as to how theatre and the virtual world can combine or if they will ever want to.
Until March 16
Venue: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (Door 17)
Bookings: artscentremelbourne.com.au
- Review by David McLean