“Hot & Heavy: A Search for New Futures Amidst the Beat of a Broken-down Washing Machine” presented by Preece and Jack
Symposium:
Session Title:
- Sound (short papers)
Presentation Title:
- Hot & Heavy: A Search for New Futures Amidst the Beat of a Broken-down Washing Machine
Presentation Subtheme:
- Speculative practices
Presenter(s):
Venue(s):
Abstract:
There is no denying that across all continents and industries, we are living with climate change and that systemic change needs to happen in order to minimise the impact of the Anthropocene. The interactive multi-art experience Hot & Heavy explores queer new worlds where domesticity has been made strange, appliances are defamiliarised, and the casual horrors of human production lines and capitalist consumption are vividly transformed. Hot & Heavy emerged out of a creative research process guided by Theory U as a theoretical framework. The creative practice project aims to make visible issues of transnational labour, heteronormative individualism, and the ecological impacts of consumerism. In Hot & Heavy, we use digital technologies, projection, and digital instrument design to heighten the audience experience. The queer dance floor becomes a metaphor for community, diversity, inclusivity, and a safe space to explore new beginnings. Collective performance is used as a practice of shifting from ‘ego-systems to eco-systems’ – a trans-formational space where the audience moves from individualism to collectivism.
