An immersive interactive docuscape experience
by gold extra
by Reinhold Bidner, Tobias Hammerle, Sonja Prlić, Mara Vivas and Karl Zechenter
with Nathaniel Eras, Parisa Ghasemi, Derek Holguin, Haydee Jimenez, Sarut Komalittipong, Felix Ludwig, Ashkan Nematian, Ielizaveta Oliinyk, Sasapin Siriwanij
Photography by: Werner Kmetitsch/office@photowerk.at, Wolfgang Hilsse, Joerg Reichardt, Miguel Gracia, Mara Vivas' family archive.
Production and assistance: Sophia Reiterer, Julia Buchwieser
Media art consulting, testing: Georg Hobmeier, Christian Knapp
Follow gold extra to unsteady grounds and join dance artist Mara Vivas through fears and hopes in the touching and compelling story of her journey to Europe. In this online performance, Mara's story interweaves with narratives and insights from guests from all parts of the world.
London, Gatwick Airport
Mara Vivas, a professional dancer, has fled Venezuela, defecting at the end of an international tour with the National Ballet of Caracas. Having left behind memories of childhood's poverty and life threatening experiences, she now faces the reality of a migrant hoping to find work, security, and above all survive in Europe. On the morning of August 2nd, 2001, Mara arrives in London. Unfortunately only getting as far as passport control. There, almost simultaneously, a disaster and a miracle take place. Once Upon Unsteady Grounds is the story of these events that still reverberate in Mara's life today.
Internet, global
Gold extra employs the magic of virtual spaces in an online performance, enabling the audience to embark on a journey with Mara and experience events simultaneously from her perspective as well as from the airport's. Mara's story leads to spaces where people from various parts of the world, including Iran, Ukraine, Mexico, Thailand, and the US, make live appearances. They provide the audience with insight into their experiences while traveling across national boundaries, societies, and ideas.
Docuscape
Once Upon Unsteady Grounds is a docuscape experience. A docuscape is an artistic form that gold extra is currently researching, a documentary virtual space in which different aspects of research are linked and connected in virtual, interactive spatial installations. gold extra is using Mozilla Hubs in this performance.
Ready for the play?
You don't need any prior knowledge to participate in the performance. Everything important is explained on the performance website in video and text and will be sent to each visitor by email.
For the performance you will need a computer with a stable internet connection, and a mouse. Either a "Firefox" or "Chrome" browser should be installed. A proper microphone or even a headset, like the one used for telephone calls, would be helpful. Smart devices, i.e. smartphones are not advised.
Current performance dates 2024:
31.1. - 3.2. 2024, 6pm, 9pm (UTC+1) TICKETS here
7.2. 2024, 4pm (UTC+1) Tickets here
15.3. and 16.3. 2024, 6pm und 8:30pm (UTC+1) TICKETS here
A few impressions of Once Upon Unsteady Grounds:
Funded by:
Digital Call 2021 of the Province of Salzburg and Austrian Ministry of Arts.
City of Salzburg, Province of Salzburg, BMKOES.
A co-production by gold extra and ARGEkultur Salzburg. In cooperation with Bangkok International Performance Arts Meeting (BIPAM).
Cooperation partners 2024: Schubert-Theater Wien, V2_Lab for the Unstable Media Rotterdam, Schauspielhaus Graz/Digithalia Festival Graz.
