ANTI-GONE By Theo Triantafyllidis
Photo by Anti-Gone
Photo by Anti-Gone
Photo by Anti-Gone

ANTI-GONE

By Theo Triantafyllidis

In this post-climate change world, environmental catastrophe and late-capitalist culture have become oddly normalized.

Anti-Gone is a Mixed Reality Performance by Theo Triantafyllidis, based on the comic book of the same name by Connor Willumsen.
Adapting the mechanics of open world video games, Anti-Gone revises traditional narrative into a continuous simulation, taking place in a meticulously crafted 3D world, full of visual signifiers of paradise: a bright blue ocean, lush vegetation, a sunken city lit by glowing sunsets. Spyda and Lynxa are a couple navigating this world frictionlessly. On their sailboat, they glide from shopping to movies to psychedelic drugs. In this post-climate change world, environmental catastrophe and late-capitalist culture have become oddly normalized.<BR>

“At the core of Anti-Gone lies a performative system that attempts to bridge contemporary performance ideas with the mechanics of open world video games. I wanted to provide performers with the right tools and drop them into a meticulously crafted 3D environment where they have agency and feel empowered to improvise and explore. I really enjoyed this element of risk and uncertainty that brings performers to a state where they need to respond to everything in real-time rather than relying on scripted and rehearsed responses. I think this gives the audience that sense that “anything is possible” during the performance. This is something that was very present in Anti-Gone, the comic book by Connor Willumsen, that the performance is based on. And that was what really made it click with the ideas I was interested in exploring in Mixed Reality. This improvisational approach was also present in the whole process of making the work, from our early rehearsals with MoCap and VR, to the live music score and sound design to the level design in the game engine. In the latest Live Stream version of the performance we introduced a new element of audience participation via live chat that highlights this improvisation system and helps the audience participate and understand what’s at stake.” Theo Triantafyllidis
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Reviews

A new and original mixed reality performance by Theo Triantafyllidis,
Anti-Gone, is an hour-long play like you’ve probably never seen before. – Jyni Ong // It’s nice that  

Presented at

Grey Area Festival – Grand Theater, San Francisco, USA : Oct 20 – 26, 2021
ONX Studio Showcase, NYC , USA : June 09 – 20, 2021
Mediterranea 19 Biennale, San Marino, Italy : May 15, 2021
BFI London Film Festival, London, United Kingdom : Oct 10, 2020
Sundance Film Festival: New Frontier – Biodigital Theatre at New Frontier Central, Park City, Utah, USA : Jan 26 – 30, 2020
Credits
ANTI-GONE, 2020   COMMISSIONED & PRODUCED BY ONASSIS CULTURE   A PERFORMANCE IN MIXED REALITY BY THEO TRIANTAFYLLIDIS PREMIERED AT THE NEW FRONTIER OF 2020 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL.   Duration: 3 acts, 60′ Writer (Original Comic Book): Connor Willumsen Key Collaborator: Matthew Doyle Production Manager, Set and Costume Design: Polina Miliou Curator: Mari Spirito Cast: Lindsey Normington, Zana Gankhuyag, Matthew Doyle Composer and Live Music Performance: Cameron Stallones Lighting Engineer: Connor Childs Motion Capture and Movement Coach: Rachel Ho Lead Programmer: Stalgia Grigg Lead 3D Character Designer: Joseph Melhuish 3D Artists: Sara Drake, Ryan Decker, Siyao Zheng Motion Capture technology provided by Noitom MoCap Special thanks to: The Breeder, Athens Sundance, New Frontier Meredith Rosen Gallery, NY Human Resources, Los Angeles UCLA Design Media Arts Bitforms Gallery Barco Projectors