For the ‘Sirenas’ performance, I became a dark time traveler rolling an enigmatic sonic artifact - the Speaker Wheel #2—that blasted obscure noise compositions and unintelligible messages.
The performance was based on an imagined, dystopian future in which the concentration and fusion of technologies with military, government and corporate powers left little choice to resistance movements other than to operate secretly. "Sirenas" in Spanish means both siren and mermaid or siren (mythology). The title of the performance invoked both the sensation of alertness associated with the sound of alarm sirens and the mesmerizing 'siren call', the song of dangerous mythological creatures. The 'siren call' (in Spanish "el canto de sirena") is popularly referred to as an unavoidable attraction to a seductive, dangerous situation.
Photo: Madeleine Gallagher.
Photo: Madeleine Gallagher.
Photo: Madeleine Gallagher.
Photo: Madeleine Gallagher.
Acknowledgments: MIT program in Art, Culture and Technology, Renée Green, Andrea Carrillo, Jan St. Werner, Madeleine Gallagher, John Steiner.