{
1n1t1@t10n
○ sWitches
Performance narrating our poetic-political manifesto as cyberwitches by exploring our bodies as controllers—using conductive ink on our skin, we affect visuals and voice.
2019
Format interactive performance
Media performance, 3D animation, electronics (conductive ink and Arduino), video projection, sound, spoken word, poetry
Software Arduino IDE, Ableton Live, Unity, Max for Live
Concept, creation, technology, and performance sWitches (pamela varela, Ines DeRu, ella hebendanz)
Special thanks to Berk Duygun, Just This Palace, Janine Huizenga, Pawel Pokutycki, Emma Pareschi, Johan Gustavsson and Jan Robert Leegte :)
Pictures by Janine Huizenga
Exhibited at
“Life After the Warm-Up”, The Grey Space in the Middle, The Hague, NL, 2019
○
1n1t1@t10n is an audio/visual/movement performance exploring the convergence of technology/nature/sexuality, as a new space for feminism/collectiveness/empowerment. It is the work with which the sWitches collective started. In our research, we explored our diverse origins and creative approaches as a way to link back to our own roots, while creating a new network of creation and connection.
We use the symbol of the witch as the knowledgeable rebel and explore cyberfeminist theory and practices.
○○
In 1n1t1@t10n, we perform our poetic-political manifesto by exploring our bodies as controllers. Using conductive ink, an audio workstation, and a game engine, we narrate our lyrical code by touching ourselves and affecting visuals and voice. We also allow the audience to touch us, questioning vulnerability, intimacy and control.
Our cyberbodies exist in the virtual space and are affected by our real bodies when we touch our skin, which has data running in the conductive ink — a paint made of water and carbon (both conductive materials but safe for the skin).
As well, our digital voices are being affected live. They narrate our manifesto (that which our collective stands for, see below), and we modulate them through touching our bodies with the ink.
~~~ manifestX ~~~
☽
☽
void void void
start
{
shX is coming
rewriting redefining repositioning
reowning reclaiming rebooting
opening new circuits of connections
creating currents of electricity
flowing through a network that demands her hacking
shX is the future
the antagonist of patriarchal reigns
gliding across worlds
a hybrid creature free from borders
emancipated: beast
shX shapes
form and face
shX changes
shX is mothXr, matriX, and thousands of names
shX manifests in all that is living
shX is many
shX is us
}
void void void
setup
{
prisoners of patriarchy, capitalism, subordination
feeling anger and sharing frustration
the fire of their souls burning
toxins raising, exhaling from their bodies, spreading:
viral
sie ist das Virus, dass das System verändern wird
ellXs son el virus que alterará el sistema
saya adalah virus yang akan mengubah sistem
we are the virus that will disrupt the system
call her
witch bruja hexe
slut puta schlampe
cunt perra hure
whore zorra fotze
bitch loba flittchen
start
{
shX is coming
rewriting redefining repositioning
reowning reclaiming rebooting
opening new circuits of connections
creating currents of electricity
flowing through a network that demands her hacking
shX is the future
the antagonist of patriarchal reigns
gliding across worlds
a hybrid creature free from borders
emancipated: beast
shX shapes
form and face
shX changes
shX is mothXr, matriX, and thousands of names
shX manifests in all that is living
shX is many
shX is us
}
void void void
setup
{
prisoners of patriarchy, capitalism, subordination
feeling anger and sharing frustration
the fire of their souls burning
toxins raising, exhaling from their bodies, spreading:
viral
sie ist das Virus, dass das System verändern wird
ellXs son el virus que alterará el sistema
saya adalah virus yang akan mengubah sistem
we are the virus that will disrupt the system
call her
witch bruja hexe
slut puta schlampe
cunt perra hure
whore zorra fotze
bitch loba flittchen
shX is
mothXr madrX muttXr
sistXr hermanX schwestXr
daughtXr hijX tochtXr
friendX amigX freundXn
goddXss diosX göttXn
we are here to unleash, unbound
diving deep into fragments of this our political poetry
it is time for alignment, time to expand our biomagnetic fields
}
void void void
update
{
we are cyberwitches
in this hybrid space
transforming codes into complex networks
mirroring patterns as above, so below
we embody the souls of the divine goddXssXs
daughtXrs of the moon, MüttXr der Sonne, hermanXs de la tierra
sexual beings, spiritual beings, earthly beings
exploring our bodies as our own territory
entangled in the roots, linking us to the matriX
as the current unites us
our power allows us to re-engineer the world
healing
fire, water, earth, and air will we fuse
burning, wetting, reconstructing, deconstructing
the flowers of justice bloom
the fruits of freedom ripen
ready
for shaping a world which prejudice claims no more victims
ready
for reclaiming the corrupted system
ecstatic, in trance, celebrating
shouting together:
in the current void
we are the future voice
}
X
update
{
we are cyberwitches
in this hybrid space
transforming codes into complex networks
mirroring patterns as above, so below
we embody the souls of the divine goddXssXs
daughtXrs of the moon, MüttXr der Sonne, hermanXs de la tierra
sexual beings, spiritual beings, earthly beings
exploring our bodies as our own territory
entangled in the roots, linking us to the matriX
as the current unites us
our power allows us to re-engineer the world
healing
fire, water, earth, and air will we fuse
burning, wetting, reconstructing, deconstructing
the flowers of justice bloom
the fruits of freedom ripen
ready
for shaping a world which prejudice claims no more victims
ready
for reclaiming the corrupted system
ecstatic, in trance, celebrating
shouting together:
in the current void
we are the future voice
}
X
Edit by pamela varela