everything around you

AND YOURSELF IN THE MIDDLE OF IT

experiential installation, theatrical short | HD, interactive projection, reflective projection | 2016

creative roles: producer | cinematographer | editor

An interactive installation conceived and executed by collaborative-artist-team Trey Gilmore and Jackie Aldern along with a troupe of technical and performative assistants, exploring alternative interactivity, performance and spectatorship.

An extended meditation on Alan Watts' lecture 'Myth of Myself'. Games of the human race are revealed as calcified dioramas in a metaphorical cave. Self-reflections have distilled from their sources, driven only to continue playing. One lives inside one’s own body, yet is never able to truly see inside one’s self. The viewer in the piece is at odds with one’s self, allowing one to relationally chart their individual-ness, only in relation to the immediate physical space of occupation, their surroundings. This mix of heightened isolation and literal projection explores how we psychologically project and read “self” within larger communities.

The project received an interdisciplinary grant from the CalArts Provost. The installation opened in February 2016 in the Black and White Gallery at CalArts in Valencia, CA. A 'distilled' version premiered as a single-channel theatrical short at the 2016 juried CalArts Program in Film/Video Showcase at REDCAT in Los Angeles.

Directors: Jackie Aldern, Trey Gilmore

Lighting Designer: Alexander Freer

Technical Director: Zachary Golden

Software Designer: Jesse Garrison

Costume Designer: Yonit Olshan

Choreographer: Jonathan Bryant

Live Dancers: Jonathan Bryant, Alexandra Bender

Interactive Video Actors: Z Yun Chen, Caitlin Craggs, Antigoni Kapaka, Bora Lee,

Elizabeth Liang, Sal Mannino, Daniel Murphy, Jacob Rimler

Theatrical Sound Mixer: Aidan Reynolds