The signature style of Temporary Distortion’s work includes: meditative performances staged in claustrophobic, boxlike structures; a uniquely restrained style of acting with little physical movement; and the creation of sensual and dreamlike double worlds, achieved through a juxtaposition of recorded video and live performance.
In each piece, an immersive, boxlike structure appears as a framing device. While multiple performers often inhabit a sculpture together, they never make eye contact, never touch, and barely move. They behave instead as parts of a singular, time-based assemblage.
Temporary Distortion is based in New York City, where its work has been presented at The Baryshnikov Arts Center, The Chocolate Factory, The Ontological-Hysteric Theater and Performance Space 122.
The Company’s work has also been presented internationally at: Brisbane Powerhouse (Brisbane, AU), Exit Festival (Paris, FR), Gare Saint-Sauveur (Lille, FR), LiFE (Saint-Nazaire, FR), Mois Multi (Quebec City, CA), On the Boards (Seattle, WA), Prague Quadrennial (Prague, CZ), Salzburg Festival (Salzburg, AT), SPAC (Shizuoka, JP), Théâtre de l’Agora (Évry, FR), Théâtre Garonne (Toulouse, FR), Theatre Junction (Calgary, CA), Theatre National de Toulouse (Toulouse, FR), Trafó (Budapest, HU), Usine-C (Montreal, CA), and Via Festival (Maubeuge, FR).
Articles discussing Temporary Distortion’s work have been published in Contemporary Theatre Review, The Drama Review, The New York Times, TheatreForum, Live Design, Real Time Arts, and The Brooklyn Rail, with an upcoming profile in Chance Magazine.
MY VOICE HAS AN ECHO IN IT is a six-hour, installation-based, durational performance with live music, text, and video, unfolding in a fully enclosed 24′ x 6′ hallway. All performers are completely confined within a freestanding, soundproof box. Spectators watch the performance through two-way mirrors lining the 24′ long walls. While the audience can see inside the box, the performer sees only his reflection, stretching off infinitely in both directions. Viewers are free to come and go throughout the six-hour duration of the event.
The audience listens to the performance through headphones stationed along the windows. Twenty-four sets of headphones are available at a time—twelve on each side—for listening to the performance. All of the instruments (including the drums) are electric and plugged directly into a mixing board. The audio signal is sent straight to the headphones. No additional amplification is employed, although speakers outside the box play prerecorded ambient music for those waiting.
A common assumption regarding live performance is that the audience is able to share a unique moment in time with the performer; however, this relationship is complicated in MY VOICE HAS AN ECHO IN IT by the introduction of a deliberate delay in the audio feed received by the listener. This brief intervention calls into question the very liveness of the event, since all sounds created by the performers are first captured, processed, and stored by a computer before being played back for the audience an instant later—technically creating a prerecorded event. This delay purposefully throws the viewer out of sync with the performance and emphasizes an ephemerality that can otherwise be taken for granted. It places an empty moment between action and reception—a moment accessible to neither the performer nor the viewer. This moment of delay is a gap. It is a blank space. It is continually present, yet completely elusive, fleeting, and unattainable.