Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2017 - Public - 16

ANNI's dot motif is superimposed on Google Street View imagery of
event locations in these screen captures of Facebook events for the
interactive installation of ANNI at the Morton-James Public Library in
Nebraska City and Performing Arts Center at Texas State University in
San Marcos. Courtesy ARCOS.

forms of audience interaction and inspired invention
across media platforms, including elements that made
their way into the final theatrical performance. A significant portion of Domain was hosted virtually on a
project website and social media accounts that featured
video livestreams, animated GIFs, and 360-degree video. The web-based chapters of Domain, which included
design elements developed earlier for the interactive
installation, were released periodically between shorter
live performances leading up to the final production at
Texas State University. The team experimented with
ways to capture the audiences' imagination in the intimate setting of their personal computer and mobile
device screens.
Inspired by the digital phenomenon of binge
watching streaming content, ARCOS sought to invade
the consciousness of those who chose to follow Domain. The team examined what might happen if audiences were provoked to engage with the piece over an
extended period of time instead of simply attending a
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solitary live theatrical production. To assist with this
prolonged immersion, the team employed a tactic developed and refined in the era of interactive media and
online culture: planting "Easter eggs," hidden messages
or clues to help astute viewers unravel a mystery. These
Easter eggs served as one route for audiences to engage
with the transmedia performance more actively and in
unexpected ways.
Because the team had already developed the elegant, minimalist visual motif for ANNI in the process
of designing the interactive installation, they incorporated the symbol of three white dots wherever possible
in the project's online incarnations. The omnipresence
of the dots throughout the visual world of the story
pointed subtly to their significance without explaining
it outright; what may have seemed unimportant at first
glance, in hindsight provided an epiphany to the audience that they had been in ANNI's domain the entire
time. Most of the online audience did not personally
experience the interactive installation, where the ellipsis
was more explicitly linked with the character of ANNI
and the computerized voice. Thus, a majority were introduced to these dots on social media. The dots were
superimposed like a cipher over images promoting live
events, such as brief performances or the interactive installation. They appeared on the project website, within
videos, GIFs, and still images, and were hovering at the
bottom of the most current chapter on the website.
On the homepage, the three dots hovered wordlessly above an enigmatic clock ticking up seconds from
an incredibly large number-another clue, or Easter egg,
planted for those viewers who wanted to take their engagement a step further. Those few who chose to search
for the clock's meaning discovered that it was adding up
seconds as computers do in their internal method for
measuring system time, yet another clue that the entire
story takes place within the consciousness of the artificial intelligence.
The clock also found its way onto the stage for the
final theatrical chapter, projected high above the stage as
a reminder of time passing, indicating to the audience
that time was moving either forward or backward between each fractured scene but otherwise obscuring the
actual date or time. This method of introducing clues online and onstage mirrored a primary strategy of ARCOS
choreographers Erica Gionfriddo and Curtis Uhlemann:
to highlight human gestures as important but withhold
the immediate revelation of that significance, provoking the audience to search for meaning themselves. As
it does for audiences experiencing the choreography, this
strategy allowed for fascinating, divergent audience interpretations of these design elements. For example, Erin
Fulton described ANNI's dot motif in Domain for Arts
+ Culture Texas magazine as reminding her of "the stem
linking cartoon heads to thought." The Easter eggs and
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