Grunwald features video projection artwork

When his 4-year-old son asked for a vampire squid for Christmas, the boy’s obsession with underwater creatures sparked an idea for Aaron Travers, an assistant professor of composition in the Jacobs School of Music.

Travers’ son served as the inspiration for Friday’s “Dark Zone” performances at the Grunwald Gallery of Art. The vampire squid is an underwater creature that communicates entirely with light. It lives in deep ocean trenches in the Mediterranean Sea.

“His interest in that kind of sparked the idea of doing an immersive piece and give the audience an idea of what it would be like to be in that dark place where the animals only communicate through light,” Travers said.

A one-night-only event, “Dark Zone” features the work of Travers and Associate Professor of Digital Art Arthur Liou.

The performance displays video projections created by Liou, which take audience members into an underwater environment, complete with landscapes and deep-sea,
bioluminescent creatures.

Liou created the creatures entirely with a computer, using no actual
footage.

“Deep-sea bioluminescence is a fascinating world,” Travers said. “I think it’ll be a different experience for students.”

The video will be accompanied by a composition written by Travers and played by seven musicians.

Most of the music is played on the piano, Travers said, but with an interesting twist.

“The music was conceived for playing in the dark,” he said. “The
musicians have to rely on cues from the video or auditory clues from one another. They won’t be able to see the keyboards at all.”

Because of the lack of light, the musicians will play directly on the strings of the pianos with special mallets, aided only by the minimal light from the video
projections.

The music includes a wide range of sounds, including high squeaks, rumbling and granular sounds, Travers said.

“The idea is to avoid chords and melodies and create a very different kind of sound world,” he said.

Not only is the performance an immersive piece, but Travers also wants to raise awareness of the impact humans can have even on creatures living miles under the ocean.

Deep-sea fishing and trolling can destroy entire ecosystems of bioluminescent creatures, he said.

“I want to bring awareness of this world where 90 percent of it is unexplored even though it is right here on Earth,” Travers said. “I want to make them aware of the environmental impact.”

“Dark Zone” will premiere at the Grunwald Gallery on Friday with two different performances and a panel discussion. Performances begin at 5 and 6:30 p.m. and last 15 minutes each. The panel discussion begins at 5:20 between the two performances.

“It’ll be different than anything they’ve ever seen,” Grunwald Director Betsy Stirratt said. “It will be a completely immersive environment.”

Follow reporter Alison Graham on Twitter @AlisonGraham218.