::: AETHER9 @ agenceTOPO (residency) ::: THE PERFECT SPECTATOR SCRIPT :::

PARTICIPANT INFORMATION

REMOTE CREW :

Mari : Finland

Manu : Switzerland

Boris : Belgium

Paula : Columbia

Vinny : Australia

Cym : Netherlands

LOCAL CREW :

Chris : sound

audrey : camera

Jordan Arseneault : protagonist (local performer)

Seth Owen : narrator (local performer)

---

LOCAL SETTING

Montréal's downtown "entertainment district" (Quartier des Spectacles), has over the last 4 years taken on the proportions of gigantic project for urban spatial control. Site of numerous state-funded mega-festivals for over 30 years, the downtown area around Place des Arts is a constant site of tension between Montréal's famed Red Light district, Chinatown, space-hungry UQÀM, and the downtown core. The Société des arts technologiques (the SAT), site of our performance on May 26th, is a new kid on the block, holding less sway and way less funding than others. Since the Ville de Montréal decided to bulldoze many of the parks, empty lots, and underused green spaces to remake the zone (between St-Laurent and Bleury, Ste-Catherine and de Maisonneuve) into a kind of Modernist "KulturPlatz", numerous changes have occurred on the urban landscape. As with the 1976 Olympics, removal of spaces for the homeless (and hence removal of the homeless), "sanitation" and general "moral clean-up" has taken place, threatening many less institutional places of cultural production with closure, extortion, arson, or expropriation. One such place is the storied Café Cléopâtre, a cabaret bar featuring drag and transsexual artists and performers for decades. Cléopâtre asked to be part of the Council that will oversee the Quartier des Spactacles, but was refused entry since its programming did not reflect the desired PR of the City's renewal plan. Now, the Quartier des Spactacles is overseen by a group of institutional cultural organizations which decide on the use, appearance, and future of this entire area of Montréal as a place whose sole intention is SPECTATORSHIP, CONSUMPTION, and the ever-tightening control of the citizen as consumer.

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1. INTRO

"
here is the spectator
here is the spectator
here is the perfect spectator
we will see the perfect spectator functioning
we will see the perfect spectator acting
how does such a number function?
what kind of thing is it?
we will look into that.
we will investigate that.
"

SCENE: [all black and white] introduction of 'the perfect spectator' - all frames black except center frame. narrator recites the text in red on stage in the local venue. the narrator is alone on stage for the entire piece. the protagonist is sitting amongst the spectators.

2. BODY OF THE PERFECT SPECTATOR

"
now we will see how the perfect spectator looks
and what it can do.
this is how an ear looks
and here a foot
another ear [show ‘remote’ ear]
here is an eye
look at this spectator’s eye [show ‘remote’ eye]
then a mouth
a mouth
and another mouth [show ‘remote’ mouth]
"

SCENE: [all black and white] in this scene, close-up on local actor's body parts. these parts are sometimes echoed by remote actors in other frames. this echoing should be in sync with the narrator's voice mentionning that part (as indicated above).

3. THE PERFECT SPECTATOR LEAVES THE ROOM

"
look at the perfect spectator moving in a room [the actor gets up and starts to leave]
the perfect spectator can move in a room
the room is boundless and radiant with light
it is an empty room [the actor has left the venue]
here are no boundaries [shot of actor in the street]
here is nothing
walking
running
jumping
falling
look now he falls
how does he fall?
this is how he falls
looks now she lies down
how does she lie down?
this is how she lies down.
like this.
"

SCENE: [all black and white] in this scene the local actor leaves the venue. all other frames are black. we see the actor leaving. outside, on rue st-laurent, he is shot performing actions: walking, running, jumping and falling.

4. DANCING CAFE CLEOPATRE

"
yes there he is.
who is he?
what can he do?
what does he want?
why does he move like that?
how does he move like that?
look at him.
look at him now.
and now.
look at him all the time.
now the music is gone. [shot of cafe cleopatre sign in frame 4-5-6]
no music anymore. [music stops] [shot of actor with cafe sign in the background - shot from below]
the perfect spectator in a room with no boundaries [ shot of peep show 'amusement' accross the street]
and with nothing
and a voice saying a few words
this voice saying a few words.
[SHOT FROM INSIDE THE VENUE SHOWING THE AUDIENCE - 30sec.]

SCENE: [all black and white] in this scene the actor is dancing in front on cafe cleopatre. suddenly the music stops (as the narrator announces it). cafe cleopatre is shown in frames 4-5-6 and subsequently the actor in front of cafe cleopatre. then the camera turns to the strange facade across the street, a sign that used to say 'amusement' but the -ent is missing. this loops until the narrator stops, then a shot of the audience appears for 30 sec. during this time the actor is running to the next location (not seen by audience).

5. THE PERFECT SPECTATOR UNDRESSING

"
look at him now.
look at him all the time.
now the perfect spectator undresses.
the clothes come off.
bow tie [bow tie shown on the ground in frame 4 - uploaded remotely]
coat [coat is shown on the ground in frame 9 - uploaded remotely]
shoes [shoes are shown on the ground in frame 7 - uploaded remotely]
trousers [trousers are shown on the ground in frame 6 - uploaded remotely]
boots [boots are shown on the ground in frame 2 - uploaded remotely]
socks [socks are shown on the ground in frame 8 - uploaded remotely]
dress [dress is shown on the ground in frame 3 - uploaded remotely]
nylons [nylons are shown on the ground in frame 1 - uploaded remotely]
bra [bra is shown on the ground in frame 4 - uploaded remotely]
pants [pants are shown on the ground in frame 9 - uploaded remotely]
the clothes come off.
[ALL FRAMES FADE TO BLACK] "

SCENE: [all black and white] in this scene actor takes off some of his clothing. while this is happening pieces of clothing shot on the ground are uploaded to all the other frames from remote locations. ideally this is a very dynamic scene in which the all frames are eventually filled (from 1-9) and the clothes shown change. feel free to show more than just one piece of clothing in the sequence, the more the frames change the better. be creative with the clothing shown : ) AT THE END ALL FRAMES FADE TO BLACK

6. TOUCH THE PERFECT SPECTATOR

"
how is it to touch the perfect spectator?
how is the skin?
is it smooth?
is it warm?
is it soft?
is it dry?
is it well cared for?
how is the skin of the chin?
how is it on the legs?
the arms,
the throat.
"

SCENE: [all black and white] in this scene only frame 4-5-6 are active showing close-ups of skin. the close-up should not be so close that you cannot make out it is from a body. it should be recognisable at least as a part of a body. frame 5 is reserved for the local actor. frame 4 and 6 are for remote actors.

7. PERFORMANCE INTERLUDE

"
listen to the spectator getting ready
listen to the perfect spectator living
listen to its sounds
what is this spectator thinking?
"

-> at this point the narrator stops speaking and the voice becomes that of the actor - his voice is not heard - it appears like title cards on the screen.

“Today, too, I experienced something
I hope to understand in a few days.
Around my left hand was shining
a ring of hazy white flames.
I considered carefully the left
side of my own dark coat.
In the middle of my heart
there was a small white spot.
I dont know what it’s supposed to mean.”
[THIS TEXT IS UPLOADED TO FRAME 6 - text should be uploaded like a typewriter in the terminal - one sentence typed - pause - next sentence typed - pause - etc. the entire performance interlude and typing of the text should take about 90 sec. pause between sentences a good 5-7 sec. last sentence 'i dont know what its supposed to mean' remains on screen for about 20 sec.]

SCENE: [black and white] in the beginning of the scene, the actor is getting ready to perform, refreshing his make-up, etc. narrator stops - performance interlude begins. [color] the perfermance here is meant like a 'performative interlude' in which the perfect spectator steps on the stage, much in the style of a music video. at that moment frame 5 will show color to emphasize the change from the narrator's 'documentary' look at the spectator to the spectator's dreamscape.

8. SPECTATOR AT REST

"
here is the bed.
here is the bed.
fresh fragrant sheets
a soft spring matress
a bed in this room
the room in no longer empty
there is a bed in the room.
the bed in which the perfect spectator sleeps
and makes love.
"

SCENE: [black n white] in this scene the perfect spectator is at rest in the construction site of the quartier des spectacles which is mainly ciment and sand. we see the spectator lying down on this surface for the entirety of the act while the narrator speaks. all other frames are black.

9. REMOTE SPECTATORSHIP

"
now there is a fence in the space
now there is ... (insert here name of place for paula/medellin)
now there is ... (insert here name of place for manu/CH)
now there is ... (insert here name of place for mari/F)
now there is ... (insert here name of place for vhinny/AUS)
now there is ... (insert here name of place for boris/B)
and a spectator
the music
and the voice.
what are they thinking?[all other frames go black - only frame 5 remains]
what is he thinking? [close-up actor in frame 5]
is the perfect spectator thinking of the space he is in?
"

SCENE: [black and white] in this scence, the locations of all remote participants are shown in frames 1,3,7,9 (depending on the amount confirmed remote aethernauts). this scene is showing scenery, not an actor. ideally this is showing the equivalent of a 'kulturplatz' in your city. at the end of the scene, all frames go black except frame 5 - as indicated above in the narration.

10. SPECTATOR'S PANORAMA

"
happiness? [FULLSCREEN MEDELLIN]
love? [FULLSCREEN CH]
death? [FULLSCREEN F]
what is the perfect spectator thinking? [FULLSCREEN B?]
look at him. [FULLSCREEN AUS?]
what is he thinking?
[FADE TO BLACK]
"

SCENE: [black and white] this is a very visually poignant scene showing fullscreen images of all the remote locations. rather than showing the scene repeated in all the frames, the goal is to show the image fullscreen spreading over all the frames as if there were only one. technically, one must take an image of their location (beforehand), split this image into 9 segments (each segment no bigger than 192x144) and upload all the different segments to their respective folders on the 9 different servers simultaneously. this can be done with one command in the terminal or by dragging to the 9 folders using an ftp upload application - we will practice this beforehand so its works for everyone. at the end, when the narrator says: "what is he thinking" - all frames must fade to black.

10. REFLEXION

“Why is fortune so capricious?
Why is joy so quickly done?
Why did you leave me?
Why are you gone?
Why is fortune so capricious?
Why is joy so quickly ...
Why did you leave me?
Why are you gone?
Why is fortune so capricious
and why is joy so quickly done?
Why did you leave me?
Why are you gone?”

[THIS TEXT IS UPLOADED TO FRAME 6 - text should be uploaded like a typewriter in the terminal - one sentence typed - pause - next sentence typed - pause - etc. the entire scene should take about 60 sec. pause between sentences 2 sec. after last sentence is uploaded frame should go black.

SCENE: [color] in this scene, all frames are blacked out except frame 5. the local venue is silent. the title cards echo the voice of the actor in his dreamscape. shot of the actor's upper body (including head) with the quartier des spectacles in the background. the actor makes a very slow 360 degree turn which is followed by the camera - thus panning through the entire quartier des spectacles with the actor fix in the center of the frame.

10. EPILOGUE

“Today, too,
I experienced something
I hope to understand
in a few days.”

[THIS TEXT IS UPLOADED TO FRAME 6 - leave on screen.]

SCENE: [black n white] all frames black except frame 5 and 6. the actor is shot walking away, until we no longer see him amongst the crowd at the quartier des spectacles. once he dissapears the frame fades to black - as well as the text in frame 6.