Inneres Insektenballett (2022)
video installation for 3 screens, 6 speakers, and 11 robotic insects - 13 minutes
Inneres Insektenballett is a playful exploration of underlying anxiety levels attributed to the ungraspable speed of the contemporary rat race. Based on the structure of a musical composition, 11 little robotic bugs perform, dance, and generate sound. While following their particular patterns, they cooperate and collide inside the various objects they are in. Their movements resonate with their direct environment and create a sound spectrum going from drilling noises to peaceful meditative vibrations and back. As the piece evolves, the individuals’ choreographies merge, and collective sonic and visual patterns come to life. Meanwhile, the spectators are invited to reflect on their own habits and the ways in which they might be quite similar to the ones of the boxed-in performers on the screen.
Originally an installation for three screens and six speakers, the piece premiered in the old electricity plant in Lauenburg (Germany) during De Troyer’s fellowship at Künstlerhaus Lauenburg in the summer of 2022. The particular sound world and specific placement of the speakers made the room come back to life for a brief moment, paying tribute to a mechanical past from which most of us are estranged now. A reduced version for one screen and two speakers was created at the same time. Here, extra emphasis lies on the relationships across the original three screens and their antsy protagonists.
Photo: J. Clews