Please join us for Janani Balusubramanian’s new interactive multimedia performance “Heisenberg.” As part of the Prelude Festival, for the evening the James Gallery will be the site of “Heisenberg,” an audio augmented reality game about uncertainty, precision and chaos. “Heisenberg” is a meditation on the events of the recent U.S. election and Brexit vote and what we learn from this about the limits of our understanding of one another and our world.
A blend of technologies and characters—old and new—the piece brings together contemporary research in particle physics with political and social implications of uncertainty. The scene is set at the beginning of time and participants are cast as fundamental particles undergoing various matter and energy transformations moving from the Big Bang well into humanity’s potential futures. Throughout players receive instructions via audio modules that dictate their individual movements, motivations, and actions. Tensions and discontinuities emerge as the narrative proceeds; the chaos that ensues forms the heart of the piece.
Cosponsored by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center.