Wireless, continued

The term “wireless” on its own is immediately connected to “wireless” technology, wireless data communications, cell-phones, satellite transmissions and so forth. But before modern technology transformed what was previously “magic” into fact, wireless technology was dominated by rumour, curse, incantation, ritual. Thus "wireless bodies" (disembodied bodies) are comprised of the images and messages that fill the air, a fecund mixture of thoughts, ghosts, television images, radio voices, photographs, hypertext messages, archetypal forms, spirits. “Wireless bodies” are bodies that have become separated from their material manifestations.

The Wireless Bodies project is ongoing and collaborative. It has involved the development of creative materials (text, music, video images, animations), performances and performance roles. Past performances have focused on different aspects of the “wireless body” including wireless broadcasts to another venue and the inclusion of surveillance cameras that brought images of the audience into the performance. The earlier work focused on the stream of images passing through the deteriorating mind of a dying ex-security man. In this work, we engaged in a unique process of hybrid story-telling that placed images, words and music in non-traditional relationships and moved towards the development of a new creative form neither “movie,” “performance” nor “poetry reading.”

The Wireless Bodies Project is ongoing. To date there have been 2 performances:

Wireless Bodies 1: The project was developed by Ruby Truly, Howard Bearham & Blake Parker. Show in Kelowna, BC, March 2, 1999

Wireless Bodies 2: For this presentation, we added the work of John Mills-Cockell to the mix. Show in Vancouver, Oct. 26, 1999