See me now? is a composition with light and sound made with Marion Tränkle for the panopticon prison in Haarlem, in which the audience could experience the architecture and history of the building. It was performed on November 9th 2018 as part of the Architectural Healing festival curated by Cityscape Foundation.

The concept of the panopticon was conceived in the 18th century by Jeremy Bentham, as an architecture for perfect control. “A cruel, ingenious cage” according to the philosopher Foucault. Tränkle and Bol approach this architecture in a composition specially made with the building. The oppositions and the relationships of the centre with all the 224 individual cells are represented and interpreted in a new way by sound, light and movement. Rhythms, synchronicity, relationships and blackouts arise: continuously changing patterns made by people and their history with the building.

The acoustic quality of the architecture was used in a multi-speakers setup. Messages left by the prisoners on the walls of the cells were played back in the individual cells and inside the dome. Audio was synced with a huge light located in the centre. The doors of the 224 cells were opened and closed by performers, lighting the dome with the lights from within  the cells, and using the slamming sounds of the doors in a composition with the dome as a huge sound resonator.

concept: Ivo Bol and Marion Tränkle
sound composition: Ivo Bol
light composition: Marion Tränkle
performers: Roos van Berkel, Cindy Brussel-Bienemann, Maartje Douwes, Suzana Gomes, Annemarie Libbers, Maria Ines Villasmil
voice: Florian de Backere
See me now? is a collaboration with the Panopticon Foundation and Cityscape Foundation
thanks to Cesco van de Zwaag, LITES film bv, Danshuis Haarlem
supported by the Dutch Performing Art Fund and Creative Industries Fund NL
a NOW production
© 2018