[From top left, clockwise] Woo E-Hui, Cheryl Tan Yun xin, and Derrick Chew, participants of the “Performance Arts and Augmented Reality” online workshop.

What is your role in the theatre?

Cheryl: My background is in acting, but I also like to explore making works, especially works that will enrich people of different races, age, and abilities. My current interest is in creating participatory works, and I am a part of ATTEMPTS.

E-hui: I am primarily a lighting designer, but I occasionally take on roles in electrics, technical management, stage management, and whatever else comes along in my trajectory that excites me!

Derrick: I am the executive producer of Sightlines Entertainment, where we produce immersive theatrical experiences that excite, entertain and educates. But I have also done everything else from management to marketing and directing.

What is your level of comfort and relationship with working with technology in art-making?

Cheryl: I love using technology! I am someone who likes to explore the options I can add to a production to make it better or even cooler, so I love adding lots of sounds, lights and projection. We’re also surrounded by technology, so to avoid using it just seems quite unnatural.

The ironic thing is, even though I love technology, most days, technology doesn’t love me back. I am a 电脑白痴 [Chinese for “tech idiot”]. That’s why I wanted to take the course, to get myself more familiar with new technology.

E-hui: As a lighting designer and programmer, most of my art-making includes the use of technology in order to bring ideas to life, so I always appreciate new opportunities to try out new technological advancements. With everything becoming increasingly digital these days, I think the new age of “digital theatre” is almost necessary to incorporate in order to stay in touch with our up and coming generation of patrons.

Derrick: I am really not a “techie”, but I am very comfortable with technology and very open to using it in my work because I believe it is the future. I also turn to technology as a way to develop new audiences that are not usually the kind who go to the theatre.

Could you share a few key concepts and thinking points from the workshop that you resonated with? Why did it have an impact on you?

Cheryl: I think the biggest takeaway for me was realising how easy the technologies can be. It was as easy as using a mobile application and a print-out. I always thought it would involve high technology that I don’t have [access to]. But to know that I could do a simple [photogrammetry] capture so easily myself and play around with it, impressed and inspired me.

E-hui: My favourite sharing was about how digital realities could manipulate time and space, because these are two REALLY weird concepts right now [in the COVID-19 pandemic]. I think everyone feels stuck right now because of the pandemic, whether it’s at home or in their career or back in April (I’m not sure how we got to August already!). This was a “hot take” that made me think about how organisations can think outside the box when it comes to staying connected with their audiences. So, even though theatre is very much about living, breathing performances, we should always consider new ways of presentation and how we can deliver our work to the rest of the world.

Derrick: I really resonated with what Shou Chen said about having to ask the question, “How does the technology help in my work and my practice?” We shouldn’t jump on it just because it’s on trend. We need to ask how the technology can elevate, support and form a crucial part of the message of an experience.

Is there anything about these new technologies you still find challenging?

Cheryl: I feel as artists, we often lack [safe] spaces in which we can adopt, test and push these kinds of technologies — and fail. But now’s the best time to experiment, when the rules for performance are changing, and maybe digital theatre, or technological theatre can stay on long after the pandemic, instead of just being a replacement.

I also think the first step is not to fear new technologies. Before the workshop, I thought, “I’m going to learn about the technology, but can I really use it?” But I realised the difference is how you choose to approach the terminology, which you can use to bridge the gap. For example, instead of saying “Hey, let’s use AR [Augmented Reality]”, what if I said “Hey, let’s use Snapchat filters”? The start of the conversation already changes a great deal.

E-hui: The cost is definitely one hurdle. The other thing is the knowledge that the more technology you include into your work, the more factors you introduce into the production that do not have the ability to “improvise” or ensure that “the show must go on” in the event that a small cog in the system fails.

I think that in some ways, AR/VR/MR [Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality/Mixed Reality] allows us to reach out to a greater group of audience, but the human presence and being in the space where the magic comes to life are not things that can be replicated with technologies. It can be a useful exploration or placebo (in these weird times), but until these technologies becomes seamlessly integrated into society, I think the human-to-human connection in a live performance still has tremendous merit over just the visual of someone appearing in front of you.

Derrick: I think I still lack a sense of the possibilities of how AR can be used in theatre and performance. That said, I think we are all making up the rules as we go along; there is no structure, methodology or language for AR in performing arts as of yet, in my opinion. But that’s exciting. That’s fun, because we can be the pioneers at the frontier of seamlessly incorporating these technologies into our theatre-making.

I strongly believe that even as artists, we cannot use the methods of yesterday to compete in the economies of tomorrow. So even though I love the live audience element and the sharing energy in the theatre, in times like these, I’m keen to explore how we can evolve and create theatrical experiences in the language of the digital, so that new generations of audiences with new ways of consuming information and entertainment, can be nurtured.

By Lee Shu Yu
Published on 31 Aug 2020

Performance Arts and Augmented Reality was an online workshop facilitated by Tan Shou Chen and Timothi Lim (The Doodle People). Held on 28 Jul, 30 Jul and 4 Aug 2020, 17 performance-makers and production designers were exposed to the potentialities of photogrammetry and volumetric video capture technologies in performance. The workshop was developed by The Doodle People and commissioned by the National Arts Council Singapore. For more information, click here.

The participants and facilitators of “Performance Arts and Augmented Reality” online workshop.

Last month, Centre 42 presented our online workshop Performance Arts and Augmented Reality, facilitated by Tan Shou Chen, a freelance theatremaker, and Timothi Lim (“Tim”), Creative Director of Augmented Reality at The Doodle People. Here are four key takeaways from the three-part workshop:

1. Staying technology positive

Adopt an open mindset in discussions about technology – Shou Chen encouraged the class to be “technology positive”, acknowledging that technology has always been ubiquitous and empowering to humankind. Even in the arts, he said, the use of video, lighting and sound technology is not a foreign concept.

“We are already using technology to perform identity and even augment our own realities,” he said, referring to the wide-spread use of applications, such as Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok, and their filter functions which employ the use of augmented reality.

The 17 performance-makers and production designers were introduced to photogrammetry, a technology which creates photorealistic three-dimensional assets from two-dimensional photos. The participants tried out photogrammetry with the mobile app Qlone.

Tim also demonstrated volumetric video capture, which can record and/or track the movement of 3D live objects. The technology can also be used to add virtual effects which distort or enhance the live physical body live.

2. Manipulating body, space and time

These technologies convert physical reality into digital data. Tim explained that this data can then be manipulated to shape our perception of body, space and time, creating dynamic and meaningful options for performance. Virtual bodies and spaces can transcend limitations of form and size, or even completely reimagines. Linear time, too, can be played with.

The manipulation of data can inspire possibilities of how augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) can be used in performance. AR introduces the virtual world using screens and devices as a portal to enhance the real world. Since it essentially overlays a virtual design upon the real world, AR can manipulate perspectives while maintaining a keen sense of the physical reality for the user. VR, on the other end of the spectrum, immerses the user and their physical movements into a purely digital environment. Lastly, MR can create an experience that brings the virtual design into our physical world.

“If we think about how we are manipulating data, rather than trading away reality, technology becomes a tool to further the aura of the live performer,” regarded Shou Chen. “We can even think about how technology itself has aura.”

With all these potentialities these technologies can create, artists can reimagine what it means to engage with technology and technologists in creative projects.

3. Weighing the cost of adoption

Some participants shared concerns about the prohibitively high costs of these relatively new technologies. Tim explained that new technological products always start out expensive due to few users; the price tends to come down with more widespread adoption. Photogrammetry and volumetric video capture technologies are still expensive, but they have been growing much more accessible in recent years –  Qlone as one of several free photogrammetry mobile app, and Microsoft’s Kinect camera for volumetric video tracking, are examples.

4. The dramaturgy of technology

The facilitators emphasised that the decision to use these technologies in performance-making should be guided by a clear artistic vision. Technology ought not be a mere accessory to the performance, but should be purposefully incorporated into the design and dramaturgy of the experience.

One way to ensure this is to work with a creative technologist early and closely.

“Creative technologists are not working for artists,” Tim reminded the participants. “We’re working with you.”

By Lee Shu Yu
Published on 31 Aug 2020

Performance Arts and Augmented Reality was an online workshop facilitated by Tan Shou Chen and Timothi Lim (The Doodle People). Held on 28 Jul, 30 Jul and 4 Aug 2020, 17 performance-makers and production designers were exposed to the potentialities of photogrammetry and volumetric video capture technologies in performance. The workshop was developed by The Doodle People and commissioned by the National Arts Council Singapore. For more information, click here.

An abandoned Lego figurine sitting on a railing at 42 Waterloo Street.

It was with a heavy heart when we closed the gates of 42 Waterloo Street on 6 Apr 2020. And with the impending renovations delayed, the blue bungalow sat empty for several months.

When we re-entered the premises exactly four months later for a giveaway of the stuff we would no longer need, we were greeted by a house that was being reclaimed by Nature. This series of images capture a time when 42 Waterloo Street sat devoid of human activity. As the world around it ground to a halt, life continued to grow in the blue house.

By Daniel Teo
Published on 31 Aug 2020

To see signs of human life during our #c42loved giveaway, click here.

The participants and facilitators of “Rethinking Practice and the Practitioner: Pandemic Purpose”.

We got the participants of Rethinking Practice and the Practitioner: Pandemic Purpose to ask each other questions about their experiences on the nine-week online course. (Or about anything under the sun, really.)

Because of Pandemic Purpose‘s focus on questioning and reflection, as well as the turn-taking format of most of the course’s activities, we had each participant answer a question, then leave a question for the next participant to answer.

What was your most memorable moment in the nine sessions of Pandemic Purpose?

Being asked by Charlene to take a 45-minute walk in an unfamiliar place of our choosing, and writing a letter to a fellow participant about it for one of our assignments. I ended up trekking for two hours along the North Eastern Riverine Loop in Punggol. It reminded me that growth does not always involve tackling everything we encounter in life head-on, and that we can also learn new things about ourselves even when we slow down or take a pause.

 How do you feel about going through these nine weeks together without ever meeting in person? 

– Ke Weiliang

My heart finds it nice that a sense of community could nevertheless be forged. My head finds it strange that said community was encoded in the same bits and bytes that can also engender division. I am currently wondering what an online equivalent of a group hug, a collective embrace, can be.

 One data point I find most hidden on Zoom is the other person’s height. I am 167cm. How tall are you? 

– Jevon Chandra

Ya really! It’s quite funny how we only see each others’ upper torso? And an occasional limb here and there. I’m 155cm, 156cm on some days. Still trying to figure out my true height though maybe I’m 155.5cm? Who knows. On Zoom we are all the same height… is it…

 What kind of foods have you eaten during session, on/off screen over the course of nine weeks? 

–  Teo Xiao Ting

Tea, coffee, noodles, chips, and a chewy sesame bun from Four Leaves. Once, a brownie. I’m a salt and vinegar fan but unfortunately no salt and vinegar chips were consumed during Pandemic Purpose. 

 What was your favourite non-human companion over the 9 weeks?  

– ants chua

this 9 weeks i find hard to just isolate “9 weeks in Pandemic Purpose” coz so much shifting and work was happening around me beyond?? i wanna say my friend who drove me around the car that helped me find a spot to sit and meet when wed afternoon comes. but also gud tea? bought? cheap? readily? anywhere in taiwan? then what everyone was wearing each time coz it reminded me that people change CLothes is real peoples that theyre not just pixels on a screen constant and the zoom chat function i used a lot gg 100 wordS alrd 

 How do you prepare for/decompress after class? 

– art naming

In terms of preparation, I’m a sucker for digital note-taking so I’ll download the articles into GoodNotes on my iPad. I mainly highlight key points or points that stood out to me and make some personal notes beside it. Before class, I’ll look through my notes again so I can consolidate my thoughts (although they still go off-tangent). Either I just sit in front of my fish tank for a good 30 mins and watch my fishes swim or I just go on YouTube and mindlessly browse random videos.

 What is the most random thought you’ve had over the course of nine weeks? 

– Su Paing Tun

It’s a challenge to recollect my thoughts over the course of nine weeks. That’s a while, and thoughts are constantly meandering. How to remember? Most random, ah? I would say I would often think about ways to gather and communicate, but without technology. Would there be a way we can organise and gather, then do something together, telepathically? Haha, it’s not that random, but it comes to mind often. 

 What have you newly discovered about yourself after these nine weeks?  

– Chloe Chotrani

I learnt how jumpy my thought processing is! My brain has great disrespect for timelines and details, preferring to linger on phrases and key moments. It makes storytelling hilariously confusing, but it is also why I obsessively note-take so as to combat my wilful brain. 

The nine weeks felt like getting off from a long bus ride at an idyllic rest stop. I would be unexpectedly attacked by wild Pokémon while wandering through the tall grass. I found myself overwhelmed at times and escaping to Nurse Joy for some TLC, but also discovered new Pokémon to add to my Pokédex!

 Was there a conversation/idea/thought/question from these nine weeks that stayed with you? 

– Edlyn Ng

The conversation that stuck with me the most was the one I has with Shu Yu when we had a nice casual chat/interview for the #humansofC42 instagram feature. I found myself talking about things that I really only realised during the conversation which ranged from how great things can be sprung out from silly ideas, the inclusivity and diversity that art and artists can potentiate, eating habits and privilege. I felt a sense of new excitement for future possibilities after our conversation which I am very grateful for.

  What do you want to say to the other participants in Pandemic Purpose? 

– Aishah Alattas

Thank you for the time and space together.

 What is one movie you must recommend to everyone here?   

– Liew Jiayi

I will absolutely recommend Avatar: The Last Airbender TV series! Not a movie but you can’t go wrong with this one. If it’s a movie.. Maybe HER. 

 What would you have been doing on those Wednesdays between 3-5pm, if you weren’t on Zoom with us? 

– Shaw En Chew

Probably writing, but also procrastinating on writing; taking naps and binging serials on YouTube. But now have to start looking for work

– Rajkumar Thiagaras

Published on 31 Aug 2020

Rethinking Practice and the Practitioner: Pandemic Purpose was an online course that took place from 17 Jun to 12 Aug 2020. Over nine weekly sessions, 14 young performing arts practitioners worked with facilitators Charlene Rajendran, Corrie Tan and Gua Khee Chong to hone critical skills as well as reflect on their practices in a post-COVID-19 world. The course was developed with support from the Asian Dramaturgs’ Network, and commissioned by National Arts Council Singapore. For more information, click here.

Charlene Rajendran facilitating a session of “Rethinking Practice and the Practitioner: Pandemic Purpose” on Zoom.

Charlene Rajendran has been teaching at the National Institute of Education (NIE) for the better part of two decades. As the most experienced facilitator of our nine-week online course titled Rethinking Practice and the Practitioner: Pandemic Purpose, I truly wasn’t prepared for her to make the following statement:

“I’ve now completed my first Zoom course!”

But I shouldn’t have been terribly surprised. The COVID-19 pandemic has upended most of our lives and sent us scuttling for cyberspace. Zoom, in particular, fast became ubiquitous, surging from 10 million daily users in 2019 to over 300 million in April this year. Out of necessity, we began spending large chunks of our day working, studying, socialising and living on the web conferencing platform.

Pandemic Purpose also ran during summer break, so Charlene had yet to conduct her NIE classes online.

When a beaming Charlene made her declaration, the window pane of faces erupted in applause. I, however, was left wondering what insights the seasoned educator might have gleaned from developing and conducting a course via web conferencing for the first time. We chatted a few weeks later – on Zoom, of course.

“On Zoom, everything is a lot less fluid,” Charlene tells me after a pause. She’s visible on my screen from the waist up, with a neatly-made bed behind her. I’d just asked her how teaching online differed from in the classroom, and I sensed that Charlene was still digesting the experience.

“People coming into Zoom – they’re a bit more silent. It’s a different dynamic that’s not as fluid,” she continues.

There is indeed a developing etiquette for Zoom users. People enter the room with their microphones muted. Some don’t even have their video cameras turned on. In large groups, everyone tends to keep themselves on mute when they’re not speaking.

Charlene also notes that time, too, is not as fluid in an online workshop: “We’re doing this activity for this amount time. There’s a lot less capacity to bleed into things, to let things emerge and come up.”

Breakout discussions, for instance, can be strictly timed – should the host wish, you could be booted out of a discussion room automatically when the timer runs out.

For someone who is more used to dealing with students in-person in a classroom setting, Charlene is very conscious about managing energy levels. And on Zoom, she noticed energy levels waning faster: “The demand for concentration and focus I think is much more than it would be if we were sitting in a room. The same people sitting in a room could probably keep going for three hours, maybe even four hours, but two hours is already pushing it on Zoom.”

“Zoom fatigue” is a reported phenomenon, describing a feeling of exhaustion after web conferencing. The most accepted explanation for Zoom fatigue is that that our brains have to work much harder to decipher verbal and non-verbal cues onscreen as compared to during face-to-face encounters.

All these issues could have posed huge problems for a course created to engage young performing arts practitioners in lengthy, intense discussions with each other. On her aims in Pandemic Purpose, Charlene says, “I wanted the participants to talk about, think about and reflect on their practice. And hear each other, listen to each other. And as a result, try and listen to themselves. I wanted to try as much as possible to make this encounter lead in that direction of becoming more reflective, becoming more aware of what you’re thinking and how you’re thinking, and becoming more willing to question and respond and interact at deeper and deeper levels.”

Charlene introducing the book “The Hidden Half” to the “Pandemic Purpose” participants.

So what to do?

One of Charlene’s solutions for conducting her course on Zoom was relatively straightforward.

“It was really useful to have everyone’s camera on all the time,” she shares. “Except during breaks, because otherwise that really changes the dynamic. And mute mics only if there’s something noisy outside, but otherwise leave it on.”

To combat dipping energy levels, Charlene would change things up for the Pandemic Purpose participants every now and then. She’d throw in riddles and word games to break up a series of discussions. She calls these activities “energy pops”.

“People need variety!” Charlene explains. “It’s because the brain suddenly works differently and suddenly you free yourself of awkwardness and clumsiness. That kind of injection helps things to happen.”

Charlene also gave ‘off-line’ assignments to be completed in between the weekly course sessions. In one assignment, she had each participant take a walk outside and then write a letter about the experience to a fellow course mate.

“I think the letter was really about doing something we don’t usually do,” Charlene says. “You become more conscious of why you’re doing it and the strangeness of it, the unfamiliarity of it, as a mode to reflect.”

But the letter was more than just reflection – it was about creating a connection.

“You will be thinking about the person you’re writing to with slightly more consideration. So you’ve got a connection with somebody,” she elaborates. “Hopefully, when you come to Zoom, it creates a layer of connection, a sensing – you’ve had to sense this person in order to write this letter. And when you receive the letter, hopefully you feel seen, you feel sensed. It’s about their connection with you.”

All these and more were tactics Charlene employed to ensure rich conversations and interactions, even when the Pandemic Purpose participants couldn’t be in the same physical space.

But the thing is – are these tactics even all that different from the ones used in a classroom environment? Recall Charlene’s hesitation at the start of our chat – she is aware of making teaching online sound like a completely different kettle of fish.

“It’s the same even when you have people in the same room,” she admits.

Conducting a course entirely on Zoom, then, was more an opportunity for Charlene to take a good hard look at her own pedagogy: “In the classroom, I have these instincts from having done this for a long time. There are these instincts that are felt and one is not conscious of. In a way, doing this experience allowed those instincts to develop.”

Our conversation could have ended on that self-reflexive note, but sharp-witted Charlene wasn’t going to leave the virtual room without one last observation from her time facilitating Pandemic Purpose.

“I’ve never seen my face so much!” Charlene chuckles. “It’s really weird. But it made me recognise the performativity of teaching online.”

“So for the last session, I made sure to wear dangly earrings!”

By Daniel Teo
Published on 31 August 2020

Rethinking Practice and the Practitioner: Pandemic Purpose was an online course that took place from 17 Jun to 12 Aug 2020. Over nine weekly sessions, 14 young performing arts practitioners worked with facilitators Charlene Rajendran, Corrie Tan and Chong Gua Khee to hone critical skills as well as reflect on their practices in a post-COVID-19 world. The course was developed with support from the Asian Dramaturgs’ Network, and commissioned by National Arts Council Singapore. For more information, click here.