Exhibition/event has ended.
[Image: © Tobias Klein, 2017. Augmented Mask, Mixed media. Courtesy of The Container, Tokyo.]

Tobias Klein “Augmented Mask”

The Container
Finished

Artists

Tobias Klein
Augmented Mask sees two life-size elaborate models of Chinese opera masks, striking in their detailed design and in their whiteness, while keeping intact the rich symbolism and allusion that associated with traditional opera masks. One Mask is 3D printed, and exists as an object inside The Container; the other, exists solely in a virtual reality. Contrasting with the paleness of the mask are mapped projections, triggered and activated by the viewers, to add layering and substance. The engagement happens on multiple levels. In the virtual reality—accessed through a headset—the visitor becomes an actor in the scene and a spectator at the same time. The body movements of the visitor are scanned and added to the performance between the two characters, actively making the visitor acting one of the characters.Similar to the opera, the virtual encounters are choreographed through a sequence of stages, reenacting the cycle of one day, from dawn to dusk. The landscape indicates the setting of the conversation while the masks are interactive. Upon interaction with the installation, the viewer gradually asserts that each movement is rippling through the conversation between the masks, making own movement a role in the act of the suicide storyline. Alas, the conversation between the male and female characters of the opera is facilitated through augmentations that are controlled by the audience. The simulacra are interactively projected onto the mask into a continuous correspondence, projected through the VR mask. The encounter captures the point of view of the second mask, looking at the player or actor. This shift in perspective between the visitor/actor and the audience poses a choreographic argument between participation and observation – relating back to the cybernetic feedback cycles of Gordon Pask’s work.

Schedule

Jul 10 (Mon) 2017-Sep 25 (Mon) 2017 

Opening Hours Information

Hours
11:00-21:00
Closed
Tuesday
Open 10:00-20:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays.
FeeFree
Websitehttp://the-container.com/940-2/
VenueThe Container
Location1F Hills Daikanyama, 1-8-30 Kamimeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-0051
Access4 minute walk from the West exit of Naka-meguro Station on the Tokyu Toyoko line.
Phone03-3770-7750
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