ARTISTS

 

THE PERFORMANCE:

Constructed over the period of a year and a half, and devised as an elaborate interplay of film, dance, and music (centered around, though not exclusively, the duet at its core), the multimedia presentation of DECONSTRUCTING THE SURROGATE is the collaborative effort of husband and wife, Daniel James, and Bryce Vinnicombe Winkler. 

Born out of a series of discussions on the interdependency of human relationships, and the surrogate roles we both inhabit, and perform for others, as well as the internal struggle to define ones own independent identity, the production also serves as an exploratory attempt at fashioning a truly intimate linkage between each individual component comprising the sum of the viewer’s experience. To this end not only do both the soundtrack and projections immediate relevancy to each other clearly inform the drama of the choreography, but as all three aspects constituting the performance were created simultaneously, they shape an integrated whole in which each presented element, in this landscape of shifting focal points, contributes to the success of its counterpart.

And although ultimately DECONSTRUCTING THE SURROGATE can be read purely as an intimate, and/or impassioned, narrative concerning the internal conflicts we all must at some point in our lives face, at its heart it stands just as firmly as an exercise in interconnectivity, designed to generate both a fully immersive, and genuinely cohesive auditory and visual experience whose interdependent structure subtly references its subject matter.

PROJECTION AND SOUNDTRACK:

Crafted almost exclusively in one and four second intervals, the forty minute film, which serves as the sole lighting source for the performance, is based largely on the biological phenomena of phosphenes (spots of color perceived or experienced before the eye via internal mechanisms, and without the direct aid of any external lighting sources). The resultant film is a frenetic collection of augmented still, stop motion, and time-lapse photography.

Equally intricate, the music for DECONSTRUCTING THE SURROGATE is comprised of well in excess of 800 live acoustic instrument tracks, and countless thousands of duplications, permutations, and manipulations of those original recordings, while still maintaining the initial integrity of the source material.

By clicking on the above video link you can access a reproduction of the complete projected film and its accompanying soundtrack, as well as an early promotional video for the piece comprised of clips from 2012 performances.


CHOREOGRAPHY: Bryce Vinnicombe Winkler
MUSIC/FILM: Daniel James Winkler
DANCERS: Bryce Vinnicombe Winkler, Harold Burns

HOMEPAGE PHOTO: Josh Nece