Anonymous Ensemble presented their latest interactive art installation, Llontop, in the Blackbox Theater from April 19-22. 

Anonymous Ensemble is a creative arts organization that creates interactive exhibits. On their website, anonymousensemble.org, they describe themselves as, “We value creating community wherever we are and we ask how the audience can be co-creators of each performance event.” The group was founded in 2001 by Lucrecia Briceño, Eamonn Farrell, Jessica Weinstein, and Liz Davito. 

The interactive installation features steel, wool, light, mirrors and heirlooms that Farrell inherited from his Peruvian grandmother. Farrell describes the beginning of the project as an “investigation of Peruvian ancestry but quickly became about indigenous culture in Peru and the status of indigenous culture in both Peru and the United States,” specifically Quechua culture. As guests move around the installation, they point their phone camera at different heirlooms that are sitting on mirrored platforms (see picture) which triggers an audio recording of people talking in Spanish, Quechua, or English, about the heirlooms and different elements of the heirlooms.

After being at EMU, the installation moved to the Pregones Theater in the Bronx, New York. The residency at the Pregones will feature the interactive art aspect, which was piloted at EMU, a performance by Quechua poet Irma Alvarez-Ccoscco, and a conversation with the audience and creators. 

Farrell lived in Harrisonburg until a few months ago, and he said that he would often come into the Black Box theater to play around with elements of the installation. The week they spent at EMU was all about asking questions, as Paul Pinto put it. They were looking to see what the audience is receiving from the installation to prepare themselves for the performance. Ash Tater, director of the project, says that they have found that “because it’s so much a conversation between the installation and the performance itself, part of the rehearsal process has been to figure out how to figure out how to set up the experiment in order to do the experiment…just in the past few months those questions have crystallized so its clear what information the installation should provide in order to have an experience of the performance.” 

When asked why EMU, Farrell said that it is partially due to the fact that EMU was really receptive to the idea and also theater director Justin Poole’s support of the project. Farrell also said that EMU’s “history of embracing immigrant communities made it a natural fit.” Additionally, the school’s “commitment to social justice on an international scope is something that makes this project a good fit for the university and the university a good fit for the project.” 

Pinto, part of the music and sound team, really wants EMU students to know that they can tune into the performance element on Zoom when they put it on at the Pregones. Performances are on May 5, 6, or 7, 2023 at 7:30pm. Free tickets can be reserved at anonymousensemble.org. 

Zack Furr-

I was able to see Llontop in my Contemporary Art class the day before it was made open to the public on campus. The installation uses a Zoom bot to detect which heirloom, each given a number, the viewer is at. The bot then plays the audio that corresponds with that number heirloom. The audio plays clips of interviews of different people, some in English, most in Spanish. 

 The atmosphere made the entire exhibition extremely unique. The setting was extremely relaxing to me. The singing in the background, the colors softly changing every few seconds. I was able to take time to relax and enjoy this experience. The lights represent the colors that are used commonly in dyed indigenous fabrics. The reds, pinks, greens, and blues represent the colors that are mostly used. 

I went again to experience the installation on a more personal level, and it was even more relaxing than before. I was greeted by the soothing voice of Pinto, giving me instructions on how to experience the installation. Being able to listen to the audio this time with headphones allowed me to feel connected with the person speaking,whereas my first time through, the audio played on a speaker over top of the installation. The first time viewing, I was able to experience the visuals, the second time allowed me to feel like I was a part of the story, the third I was able to get audio I had yet to hear. Each time through gives the viewer another chance to experience something new they may not have seen, or heard, before.