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
3.4 Meta-Score
To end the theoretical framework section of this thesis, I would like to propose a concept, which for now I like to call the "Meta-score". This concept is something I have been trying to find within my last pieces, and it is not even close to being completely defined or analyzed, so I will limit myself to introduce it for the scope of this thesis.
The meta-score is a conceptual framework that understands the orchestrated nature of events and movements within our daily lives as composed elements. This notion, which could be likened to a score of scores, invites us to entertain the idea that various occurrences in our environment are not merely coincidental or random but are organized and structured over time by an unseen hand.
This approach to understanding the world around us is, in a way, a playful intellectual exercise, an imaginative leap into considering life's synchrony as elements of a grand composition. While it may evoke a sense of something almost religious -like the belief in a grand creator orchestrating the minutiae of the universe- my interpretation remains firmly within the secular realm. It's an exploration of composition applied not just to sound but to all materialities that occupy space and time—text, movement, light, body, and notably, space itself.
In Mathias Rebstock's concept of "Composed Theatre", composition transcends auditory elements to encompass a multitude of materialities, we see that the role of the creator—or composer—is pivotal. This entity deliberately organizes each element, employing various compositional tools to prepare an experience that, while it may not solely rely on sound, can be experienced as music. In this focus, the composed theater exists both in the creative process and in the perception of the audience, marrying the act of creation with the act of observation.
Expanding upon the idea of Composed Theatre to the broader concept of meta-scores, we step into a state of active observation. Here, we begin to discern organization and composition in the larger structures that govern our experiences. For instance, a close observation of a train station reveals a choreographed flow of human movement, each step and action timed and dictated by the train schedules—a live performance of synchronicity and coordination.
In Corporate Unconscious, the installation "The Full Score" exemplifies this notion of meta-Score as an observational tool rather than a reflection on celestial determinism. Through a simple yet profound exhibit—a looped one-second video of Hamburg Hauptbahnhof accompanied by a printed score detailing 87 instrumental actions observed in that brief moment—participants are invited to perceive the intricate composition of everyday life. This piece demonstrates how seemingly mundane moments are composed of numerous, carefully timed movements and decisions, each contributing to the overall harmony of the space.
Moreover, the concept of meta-Score extends to the organization of urban life itself, as illustrated in Corporate Unconscious through a scene featuring a room filled with traffic lights. Each light represents an intersection in Hamburg, symbolizing the idea that the city's rhythm and flow, the very lives of its inhabitants, are orchestrated around these 1750 traffic lights of alternating colors. It's a vivid illustration of how space and narrative, movement and time, intersect in a grand composition that choreographs our daily interactions and encounters.
In relation to meta-Scores, Robin Meier’s work, particularly Synchronicity (2015), provides a natural counterpart. In this piece, Meier orchestrates an environment where fireflies flash in unison, mirroring the orchestrated movements within human spaces like train stations. "Synchronicity" underscores the idea that orchestrated patterns exist not just in human activities but also within nature, broadening the concept of meta-scores beyond human-constructed narratives to find organization and composition.