Presence of Absent
A room, a screen, a private space. Cables, connections, microphones, the station of transmission, perhaps? A man inside speaks loudly.
A screen, a picture reproduced. Colors remark on the role of digital, and its power to multiply. One corrupted into many. You are all inside the scene - spectator, actor, scenography, props, shadows. Can you stay?”
Presence of Absent is the first staging of research begun in the context of the pandemic, during the complete lockdown. Computed interface represented an escape from isolation, and later the only possibility to work: the construction of a creative space of interaction between a body in Mexico, a media director that receives, modifies, and mixes several video inputs in Europe, and a musician that creates a sound space from another geographical point. The first investigation between Cistifellea Collective from Europe and Cesar René Perez from Mexico began in the second half of 2021 with the performance Agresión y Dignidad. The performance premiered in fully digital format at the end of 2021 on several digital platforms, such as Twitch, Facebook, and the website www.cistifellea.eu.
The staged performance presented at this time is the prelude to a full-scale production, Codes of Absence, that will premiere at Theater Im Depot in June 2023.