CORPORATE UNCONSCIOUS AND THE VIDEOWALK FORMAT
1.1 Background and Context
1.2 Research Question
1.3 Objectives and Scope
1.4 Structure of the Thesis
2. Corporate Unconscious 2.1 Credits
2.2 Description
2.3 Video Documentation
2.4 Synopsis
2.5 Full Text
3. Theoretical framework 3.1 Videowalk: Exploring the Format
3.1.1. Walking as a type of art.3.1.2 Audiowalks
3.1.3 The emergence of Videowalk
3.1.4 Choosing the format3.2 Site-Specific Art and Spatial Narratives
3.3 Engaging Audiences in a Constructed Reality
3.3.1 Illusion and Engagement: The Rubber Hand Effect in Theater
3.3.2 We should invent reality before filming it
3.3.3 Simul Entertainment GmbH3.4 Meta-Score
4. Creative process 4.1 Concept Development
4.1.1 Synchronicity and simultaneity.
4.1.2 Corporate Language as a Narrative Tool4.2 Space research
4.3 Development of visual, auditory and performative identity
4.3.1 Corporate Identity
4.3.2 Art Direction and Stage Design
4.3.3 Performativity
4.3.4 Costumes
4.3.5 Music composition
4.3.6 Cinematography4.4 Dramaturgy and Script Development
4.4.1 Narrative Layers
4.4.2 Storytelling
4.4.3 Dramaturgical arc
4.4.4 Space Score and Timing4.5 Videowalk Production phases
4.5.1 Creation of Fake Historical Footage
4.5.2 Videowalk Filming
4.5.3 3D Modeling and Scanning of the Space
4.5.4 VFX Development and 3D Animated Scenes
4.5.5 Documentary Development4.6 Performance and Participation4.6.1 Installations & self-reflective moments
4.6.2 Leveled performances
4.6.3 Fake participants and recursive participation
4.6.4 Easter eggs4.7 Multimedia Techniques
4.7.1 LiDAR Scanning and As-build modeling
4.7.2 On-site shading and texturing
4.7.3 Character and animations
4.7.4 Camera tracking and VFX compositing
4.7.5 Virtual production and "inverse virtual production"
4.7.6 Video Game development
4.7.7 Spatial audio
4.7.8 AI text models
4.7.9 iOS playback app
5. Conclusion
6. Acknowledgments
7. References
In theater and immersive experiences, the Rubber Hand Illusion offers a fascinating analogy for understanding how audiences engage with scripted realities. The illusion consists of a psychological phenomenon where people rewire their brains to think a rubber hand is actually theirs. The process involves synchronizing both tactile and visual stimuli, giving a moment for our heads to think the hand we have in front is ours. This phenomena works as a metaphor to what happens with immersing audiences in constructed realities. By starting with a captivating event or interaction that resonates with the audience's senses or emotions, and satisfies certain scripted events, artists can build on the psychological link. This bond places the audience in a state of active awareness, tending to perceive the entire experience as something scripted.
These narrative games between reality and fiction are also present in Angelo Solari's Audición 1 (2014) where the performance involves a literal reading of a musical score. This piece cleverly incorporates stage directions, such as "a man walks by in the background," that do not actually occur, enhancing the participant's sense of augmented reality. When moments of synchronicity between the narrative and real-life events do happen, they reinforce the illusion that everything within the experience is carefully composed.
Angelo Solari's work, particularly in Audición 1 effectively employs this concept by blending scripted actions with elements of augmented reality. In his performance, seemingly mundane instructions or actions take on a significant role in anchoring the audience's experience, priming them to anticipate and believe in the constructed narrative framework. This initial scripted interaction acts as the tactile stimulation in the Rubber Hand Illusion, establishing a baseline of trust and suspension of disbelief that persists even as the performance weaves between the scripted and the spontaneous.
The broader application of this principle in theater and immersive art lies in the careful calibration of audience expectations and experiences. Just as the Rubber Hand Illusion relies on the precise synchronization of sensory inputs to achieve its effect, immersive performances must balance scripted elements with opportunities for spontaneous audience engagement. By initially grounding the audience in a tangible connection to the narrative, creators can more effectively navigate the fluid boundary between fiction and reality, enhancing the depth and impact of the experience.
This technique is not isolated to Solari's work but finds resonance in the broader history of theater and performance art, where illusion and the manipulation of perception have long been central themes. The work of the Argentine-Italian director, librettist, and theorist, Luigi Pirandello, notably explores these techniques. In Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921), Pirandello uses a modernist approach: The plot begins in a theater, where a rehearsal is underway, and the characters are unfinished creations of an author who has abandoned them. Pirandello's meta-theatrical approach invites the audience to question the nature of reality as presented on stage, in a similar way to Solari's interest in the constructedness of theatrical experience.