Named Twilight, this third season showcases works that touch on themes of past, present and future, each of them equally opening opportunities for reflection and introspection on our history and our relationships with the modern world today. Twilight features three works in its 60-minute itinerary that involves a mixture of local talents as well as international artists.
“We need to have a balance between foreign artists and local artists, and there was an effort with Arif [Rafhan] to put on a very Malaysian show, to celebrate Malaysia and what makes Malaysia unique and that was Hanya Batik. Then the other shows are collaborations with foreign artists, to provide a very edgy, fully immersive experience,” said Sebastien Jurkowski, CEO and Creative Director of REXPERIENCE.
Hanya Batik
First is Hanya Batik, an immersive digital experience which narrates the story of Malaysia through the eyes of a batik artist, with visuals from Arif Rafhan, music from Bo Amir Iqram, and 3D graphics work from Fahmi Hosnan and Ian Kit.
Translating batik from fabric to screen was a new challenge for the artist Arif, who is an illustrator and concept artist. “All these are digitally drawn, I am not a batik artist,” Arif clarifies when asked about his technique. But he wanted to create something that could attract locals and tourists alike, and he found his answer with batik. “It’s the most intriguing format and it’s our cultural export! Everyone, whenever they see batik, [they ask] what kind of artwork is this? It’s interesting and we use that as our ‘weapon’ to get the attention of people,” he said.
Hanya Batik, with its colourful visuals, clear narrative and accessible subject matter, serves as the “entryway” for audiences who might be new to the immersive art experience. “The other shows are more experimental, there’s less storytelling, it’s more abstract. We try to keep a balance between something that’s easy to understand and then we lead people to more abstract immersive art,” Sebastien explains.
Geometry of Emotions
Geometry of Emotions by French artist Parse/Error (Fabien Bouchard) and musician Matthieu Pernaud is a 15-minute interactive artwork that uses video projections and spatialised sounds to react to the live audience. The piece looks at the relationship between geometric and organic movements as well as between artificial and natural to question our relationship with technology. Through the pulsing shapes and sounds that completely surrounds you within the space, you become a part of the digital, and directly influence its forms around you.
Escape
The third piece is Escape, an immersive audiovisual piece by Colas Fiszman (Tyrell Studio) and Laurent Delforge (NONE Studio) that blends live performance with technology and digital projections to create completely unique art at every showing. Using advanced tools like TouchDesigner and Unreal Engine, the piece is able to synchronise to the dancers movements to create a multisensory experience for the audience. Make sure to catch the show with live performances to get the full experience!
When asked for three words to describe Twilight and what audiences should expect, here’s what we got. “Celebrate, unity and harmony,” Sebastian says. “Wholesomeness, unified diversity,” Arif concludes.
Twilight opens on 15 August 2024 and runs until February 2025 at REXPERIENCE, located in REXKL on Jalan Sultan. Shows run multiple times a day from 10AM to 10PM daily. Tickets can be purchased in advance and online at rxpkl.com.
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