Sisyphus 2.0
Melanie Armer, Stephan Moore, Aldo Aguilar
Sisyphus was an ancient Greek king who angered the gods by cheating death. His punishment was to push a giant boulder up a mountain in Hades, only to watch it roll back down every time it neared the summit. The game. Sisyphus 2.0 concentrates that struggle into a playful yet challenging interactive game. The six-foot steel sphere twinkles in the darkness. Two tones follow two rhythms. By turning the sphere, participants control the sounds and bring the tones into synch. Roll the ball. Unlock the puzzle. Dance to the music. Repeat. Startling in its simplicity, the work speaks directly to our very human experience of trial and error and measured success, achieved by deep listening and coordinating efforts among a group of players.
About Melanie Armer: Melanie is a bicoastal director specializing in devised performance, ensemble-driven work, and immersive large-scale events. She uses both classical and current techniques to create strong underpinnings for fresh, modern ideas. Melanie believes we create art because we are compelled to do so, and by doing so we foster the kind of creative thinking that can change the world. She is also a steel sculptor, a producer, and a production manager. Melanie makes audio dramas, and interesting jams (the sticky & non-musical kind), and I delight in a properly crafted Sazerac. She lives on eight acres just north of Manhattan with my partner, our Maine Coon Leo, and his pet dog Kasper.
About Stephan Moore: Stephan Moore is a sound artist, designer, composer, improviser, programmer, engineer, teacher, and curator based in Chicago. His creative work manifests as electronic studio compositions, improvisational outbursts, sound installations, scores for collaborative performances, algorithmic compositions, interactive art, and sound designs for unusual circumstances. Much of his work has been realized in collaborative projects, most notably with sound artist Scott Smallwood in their duo Evidence and with choreographer Yanira Castro in the collective a canary torsi. He was the music coordinator and touring sound engineer of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (2004-10), and has worked with Pauline Oliveros, Anthony McCall, and Animal Collective, among many others. In 2019, he co-founded the Chicago Laboratory for Electro-Acoustic Theater to promote and encourage the creation of multichannel audio works. He is a Distinguished Professor of Instruction in the Sound Arts and Industries program at Northwestern University.
About Aldo Aguilar: Aldo is an artist, illustrator, designer, and fabricator driven by transformative internal change reflecting outwardly. They are focusing on creating reflective spaces that challenge participants' ideas of constructed environments. Through Aldo’s art and contributions, they look to inspire introspection on how our expectations and biases of the outerworld inform the inner. Currently, Aldo collaborates on Sisyphus 2.0 with Stephan Moore, led by Melaine Armer. The collaboration has refined Aldo’s ability to design lighting and electrical systems for interactive installations. Through the project's journey, Aldo has learned how to combine elements of lighting, audio, and sculpture collaboratively. The work embodies Aldo’s desires by altering participants' expectations of what a sculpture can be through interactivity and play. Aldo wants to see reflection, introspection, and transformation of the world and themself.