Création Nocturne
Participatory performance/ Didactic Tangible User Interfaces (TUI), 2023-24
Rite of Birth at the Ars Electronica Festival 2024, performed by Naho Takeda and the author. Photo credit: Camilla Scholz.
A mystical ceremony is conducted to honour and nurture a rare species that blooms only once a year. The ritual follows a lifetime of the Création that appears for these fleeting moments of the night.
Création Nocturne is a participatory performance that invites visitors to study and reflect on the causes of existential terror-induced sleeping avoidance through meditative interaction with a didactic interface. Developed within the framework of Focusing-oriented Art therapy (FOAT), it explores the potential of interactive art in psychological practices.
Création Nocturne unfolds as an open overnight performance. Visitors are invited to enter the ceremony at any point during the evening, remain for as long as they wish, and leave whenever they feel ready.
Rite of Birth at the Ars Electronica Festival 2024, performed by Naho Takeda and the author. Photo credit: Camilla Scholz.
The project was developed in collaboration with Minju Jeong, with technical assistance from Gabriel Eckerstberger and additional support from Daniel Fischer and /dev/lol Hackerspace. It was exhibited as part of the NOUS – Interface Cultures exhibition at the Ars Electronica Festival 2024, and performed by Naho Takeda and the author, in collaboration with RedSapata and Sonnenstein Loft.
Création Nocturne emerged during my studies at HEAR Strasbourg in the Didactique Visuelle programme. It began with a question:
Can an interactive installation become both a didactic interface and a space for emotional reflection and processing?
Around the same time, I found myself researching bedtime procrastination and its possible relationship to existential anxiety, rest and vulnerability. These two curiosities gradually merged into Création Nocturne.
The project draws inspiration from the principles of Focusing-Oriented Art Therapy (FOAT) and drama therapy, reinterpreting them through participatory performance and tangible interaction.
Flower of Epiphyllum oxypetalum(2007). Photo credits: MAK, Wing Kuen.
TUI in the blooming state TUI in its responsive state during the Rite of Growth (2024), screenshot from NOUS – Interface Cultures @ Ars Electronica Festival 2024. Photo credit: Lina Alejandra Pulido Barragán. Screenshot by the author.
The visual language of Création was inspired by the Queen of the Night (Epiphyllum oxypetalum), a flower that blooms only once a year for a single night. Its brief appearance became a metaphor for fragility, care and the conditions required for something delicate to emerge.
Collective movement during the Rite of Birth at Ars Electronica Festival
2024. Photo credit: Camilla Scholz.
The Rites
Visitors enter a fictional ceremony centred around the arrival of an otherworldly creature, Création. During the performance, visitors are invited to follow two facilitators and step into the role of priestesses.
The performance unfolds through four symbolic rites:
- Rite of Birth
- Rite of Growth
- Rite of Life
- Rite of Death
Each rite marks a different moment in the creature's life cycle and invites a different form of participation. At the centre of the ceremony stands a TUI, a creature responding to light and sound. Inspired by human sleep cycles, it gradually grows and blossoms when its surroundings remain calm. Excessive noise or light causes it to retreat into a defensive state. Visitors join a collective act of care, creating and maintaining the conditions Création needs to reach full bloom and complete its life cycle.
My Contribution:
- Research & Concept: Initiated the project, developed the research question and artistic concept, and designed the narrative, role-playing framework, and audience participation scenario.
- Interface Development: Collaborated with Minju Jeong on the creature's design and mechanics, while Gabriel Eckerstberger developed the software implementation and Daniel Fischer supported the electronic system.
- Interaction & Performance Design: Developed the performance structure, ceremony, and visitor experience in collaboration with Naho Takeda.
- Creative Direction: Designed the visual identity, costume, environmental installation, animation, and soundscape.
- Project Coordination: Managed the overall production process and coordinated collaboration between team members and Sonnenstein Loft, RedSapata.