Job is an online performative game in which the audience members give voice commands to the avatar Macmann for him to find the exit of the building where he is locked in. It was one of the projects selected for the residency How to Live and Work Now, in January 2021.
It took place in a room at Kaai Theater, where a avatar/ performer followed the voice commands of a group of players remotely connected. As in an escape game, the players had to solve puzzles, find hidden things, and come to agreements with the whole team. The difference witha conventional escape room is that the players are not physically in the room, they command a performer to do what they want to do as a team. Nevertheless, the avatar doesn’t share the same desires of the players. As their workforce in the game, the players will have to convince him to perform what is necessary for them to win. As Herman Melville’s Bartleby, the avatar might sometimes say: “I’d prefer not to.” My interest here lies in investigating how an audience and a performer negotiate and communicate to one another, questioning the power relations in a performance context. Should a performer always please the audience? Is there any pleasure in being disobeyed? For me, JOB is a way for us to collectively elaborate on work, efficiency and product in the arts.
Creation and Performance : Thiago Antunes
External Eye : Gaëtan Rusquet
Techinical support: Damien Petitot
thiago antunes 