Performance Space

Visitors can stay in the maze-like lobby space as long as they like. However, every hour there will be a "performance" of the Brain Opera, which everyone will be invited to attend. Each performance will have certain common features, but will also be unique because of the contributions and "personality" of that particular audience group. It is here that the separate fragments of the Brain Opera come together to form a coherent artistic experience. The Performance Space will be set up like a night club: people will be able to sit at the periphery of the room, or move and dance at the center; images and sounds will be projected on a curved surface at the front of the room, as well as on the floor and ceiling. Each performance will last approximately 45 minutes and will have three distinct parts, one flowing into the next: Part 1 will be a Sonic Blitz, as recorded voices of audience members are mixed into a dense sound collage, turning words into beautiful music. Part 2 will inject snippets of music produced by audience members, colliding and overlapping, and finally combining and aligning to create fascinating musical mini-pieces. Part 3 will bring together all of the musical themes and layers of the Brain Opera, getting ever faster and more intense, as the music builds to a crashing and cathartic climax. Three performers, playing specially designed gesture instruments and using baton-like "magic wands," will select, modify, and combine the various strands of music in real-time. In addition, sensors in the room's carpet and radar beams at head level will measure audience movement and energy level during the performance, using this information to automatically influence the musical build-up and formal shape of the piece.