Presence (Phase 1)
Be present together in the real world, remotely.
Online
Presence is a new online platform created by Rooftop Productions (HK) and Hong Kong media artist Kenny Wong Chi-chuen. The platform allows remote participants to navigate a real physical space, and interact with people/performers/other participants using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV).
Presence was conceived during the peak pandemic period in Hong Kong, when face-to-face interaction was strictly limited, and live performances and venues were shut down. As a collective of theatre practitioners and programmers, we decided to create Presence as a live performance form during lockdowns, that, unlike zoom, would also have a spatial and physical dimension, leading to more of a feeling of co-presence in the space, and more agency for participants.
The first stage of the project took place from Jan-Mar, 2021, in a storage warehouse building in Hong Kong, culminating in 14 performances. Each performance allowed 4 participants to take control of the individual ROVs, while up to 50 observers could join and take control of which camera/audio feed they wanted to view, including ROV views, as well as CCTV overviews, and live chat.
Performances took place in both Cantonese and English, allowing participants to join from anywhere in the world. Performers began by teaching participants how to control their ROVs to move around the space, and communicate with them via TTS, leading to task-based interaction and exploration. In the company’s warehouse, performers related the real stories of the objects (documented form the company owner) in a non-linear way depending on what participants took an interest in, much like curators, eliciting questions and interactions, creating a sense of intimacy with the participants. This storytelling form enabled us to address important social issues in Hong Kong, in particular the current wave of emigration in the face of the changing political climate; the abandoned objects hinting at their owners’ reasons for leaving.
This project was commissioned by Freespace, West Kowloon Cultural District, and as part of The Future of Performance series.
Cast
Creative and Production Team
Programmer | |
Producer | |
Mechatronics | |
Video Designer | |
Performers | |
Project Assistant |
Special thanks: Canaan Moving Co. Ltd., Phoenix Cheung
Thanks: Puma@Artocrite (for being there), Joyce Cheung@Music Lab (for allowing us to use her music from Set Loose)
Gallery
About the Artists
Learn more about everyone involved in the production
Ivor Houlker
Ivor Houlker is a multidisciplinary theatre artist, who works internationally as a director, actor, musician, and programmer. He specialises in hybrid forms involving technology, as well as physical theatre and site-specific performances. His work often involves live music, chorus, multimedia projection, sound installation, and audience interaction. Since 2014 his work has incorporated programming and developing original apps to support interactive work. Recent works also include original real-time online platforms and to enable new forms of live interaction. Ivor is a founder and artistic director of Rooftop Productions in Hong Kong.
Learn more
Michelle Li
Michelle Li Yuen Jing is the founder and co-artistic director of Rooftop Productions, and the recipient of the Award for Young Artist (Drama) at the 16th Hong Kong Arts Development Awards. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Performance Creation from Goldsmiths, University of London, and holds a Bachelor’s degree with Honours in English Studies from the University of Hong Kong.
Learn more
Kenny Wong Chi-chuen
Kenny Wong is an independent artist and designer and established the creative studio Things That Move. He worked as a creative craftsman (Creative Technologist) in IOIO creative, and studied for a master's degree in Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, majoring in sculpture. He was a lecturer at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong in 2015.
Learn more
Chan Tsz Ho Calvin
Freelance multimedia and theatre artist Calvin Chan specialises in video design, multimedia design and live mixing. He also works as technical consultant for a variety of live performances and events, as well as films and TV productions. Recent theatre works include: Testimony and The Furies Variations (Rooftop Productions), Confrontations and February 14 – A musical (Hong Kong Repertory Theatre), and Bull (Fableist Ensemble).
Learn more
Arisa Yasaratne
Arisa is an aspiring actress who is especially passionate about the spread of diversity through all mediums of entertainment. She has worked in a variety of theatre performances with titles such as Twelfth Night, Jason and the Argonauts and Harlequinade. Through a youth acting program she was part of back in 2013, she received training both in Hong Kong, as well as in London at the London Academy of Dramatic Arts (LAMDA). Her most recent work includes: Rooftop Productions’ Presence, to.gather and Testimony.
Learn more
Owen Hui
Learn more
More information
Dates & Tickets
Dates
Ticket Prices
Free
Audience Information
Language
In Cantonese and English
For the best experience, please prepare a desktop or laptop computer with a stable WiFi connection and a pair of headphones/earphones.
You can choose to join as:
Participant: You have control of an ROV; you choose what to see and where to go.
Observer: Not able to control anything in the space as of yet, but you can see the perspectives of all the different participants.