It Could Be Next Time (There Is No Next Time)

Nikhil Kumar

Interactive poem and musical composition reflecting on emotional attachment, impermanence and decay.

https://nikhilkumar.media

Description

It Could Be Next Time explores the relationship between emotional attachment, impermanence and decay through sound and interaction. The audience plays an important role in unlocking sequences of music and spoken word during the performance.

The physical piece is built with orange peels in various states of freshness and decay. When an orange peel is pulled out of a switch and buried in soil, spoken audio– thoughts and memories in various states of freshness and decay– and associated music begins to play. As the sculpture is disassembled, the poem and music becomes more complete. Ultimately, after the physical structure is undone and the orange peels are returned to the soil, the intangible poem/sounds continue to exist.

Audience members can interact with It Could Be Next Time at various stages of its lifecycle and will themselves contribute to the order in which the piece plays. Chance is an important component, and the coherence of the experience for an audience member at any snapshot in time will depend in part on when and how they interact with the piece.

Classes

Introduction to Physical Computing