[dream]ENGINE
by MHz & Hannah Finn
(2021)
harnesses the ethereal quality of dreams through immersive AV design, somatic choreography and the art of contortion.
a 12 min work in progress film created during lockdown and screened at Manipulate digital festival - a stage version will be presented at a future date.
MHz have been collaborating with circus artist Hannah Finn to create a piece of contemporary dance circus which aims to visually interpret the uncanny private realities of dreams and translate them on stage. [dream] ENGINE’s jumping off point is a Neuroscientific study entitled “Dreaming and Offline Memory Processing” that links bizarre imagery created whilst dreaming with adaptive cognitive processing as our neural-level “replay” of recent experience plays a critical role in the consolidation and evolution of memory, helping us to process our past experiences and prepare for future events.
MHz & Hannah have never met and worked remotely on this piece between Glasgow and Bristol. Hannah, who is immuno-compromised, has had to shield since the start of the pandemic, working from her home studio space featured in the piece. Exploring memories and randomised choreographies with the MHz team, she filmed herself on her phone with the graphic elements generated and composited in real-time alongside her performance.
12 min 'work in progress’ video
“It’s an astonishing, futuristic work which links science and nature to jaw-dropping effect: humans and tech in synthesis.”
[dream]ENGINE’s stage version will feature a cubic projection set. Test images below (Stand-in performer Melissa Lee)
CREDITS
Visual Design & Direction : Megahertz
Dance Contortion : Hannah Finn
Movement coach : Jos Baker
Producers : Feral
Funded by Creative Scotland with support from Dundee Rep, MANIPULATE Festival and NEON Digital Arts Festival