© Matthu Placek, 2005

NUDEDESCENDANCE

In early 2005 I created a digitally-animated solo called "NUDEDESCENDANCE," which also involved choreography software to construct movement. The piece was designed as a live triptych, as an homage to Marcel Duchamp's similarly titled masterpiece "Nude Descending A Staircase," in which the human body is rendered irrecognizable through the an assembly of Dada and Cubist painting techniques. As reimagined for live performance, a lone figure descends a flight of stairs, while disrobing nearly 30 articles of clothing; a digital doppelganger then performs a dystopic (and seemingly impossible) series of transformations; the performer then mimics and reproduces these movements live, with surprising accuracy. A final section offers a subversive descent down second flight of stairs. The piece has been performed throughout the United States, and in Europe and Asia.