My Self in That Moment

My Self in That Moment is a hybrid performance work for an ensemble of 49 tablets and a solo vocalist, exploring the fragmented and distributed self in the digital age.

The swiftly evolving ability to replicate, deconstruct and distribute a person’s image and voice presents a swathe of possibilities and conundrums. The edges of self are increasingly frayed as our relationship with devices and systems becomes ever more entangled, fragmenting notions of ‘me’ and ‘mine’.

Interrogating questions around identity, agency, ownership and the myriad systems that lay beneath the distribution of data, My Self in That Moment is a reflection on the voice and body and what it means to be digitally captured and archived.

Referencing the history of Western portraiture, My Self in That Moment reflects upon the depiction of women through time – from canvas to hand-held device – to interrogate and disrupt the gaze that so dominates this lineage.

“How much agency do I have of a past self that’s been funnelled through machines? How much of that is me? Well, I don’t know. I don’t know that.” — Tina Stefanou (performer).

Led by Chamber Made Artistic Director, Tamara Saulwick, with composition by Peter Knight, My Self in That Moment continues the company’s record of engaging with new forms and technologies in live performance and music. For My Self in That Moment Steve Berrick developed a system where personal devices in the form of tablets are networked to function as a visual and sonic ensemble, opening up exciting possibilities for the spatialization of image and sound.