Lustfaust

The Idea

The concept was devised following our proposal of a number of ideas to Jamie, before deciding together on a simple, geometric abstraction exploiting the architectural features of the museum’s courtyard. The aim of our visuals was to create a memorable visual component to the performance, rather than to assert an interpretation on Lustfaust’s experimental sound with narrative imagery.

The Process

The visuals we designed incorporated the physical space of the museum’s courtyard into Lustfaust’s performance by dissecting the facade of the building into layers and superimposing the resulting geometric images on to the architecture, highlighting and contrasting with the building’s classical style. Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza, who was responsible for the renovation of the MADRE’s antique courtyard, was in the audience on the night of our performance with Lustfaust. Following our performance, he commended our visuals and the effect they created, saying ‘the architecture thanks you’.

This event was the debut of our ‘Glasnost 2.0’ (now defunct) live visual software, a system that enables us to create three-dimensional stage visuals that account for perspective and physical form in the performance space.

dandelion + burdock’s visuals are designed to work in harmony with the performance space, working with elements of physical architecture and perspective to construct an atmosphere using the contrast of space, sound, light and darkness. For this, we pioneered custom-built live visual technology, designing an advanced system that would allow them to fully control and individually tailor visuals to each project, resulting in an immediate, real-time response to the intricacies of the artist’s live performance.