(Above) © Disability Arts Online
A silent and slight figure takes to the blacked-out stage at the greenroom in Manchester.
He quietly intones a narrative about conception, birth, life and death. As he talks, he inhabits a digital landscape, which he switches through, using a hand-held controller.
It's a series of animated scenes projected onto the theatre backdrop. When he moves in front of the projection, he interacts with the imagery, and the story develops, on and on.
That's a cold and somewhat stripped-down description of what Japanese artist (and former zoologist) Mamoru Iriguchi did in Pregnant, part of decibel09, the Arts Council’s performing arts showcase in Manchester in September 2009.
© Disability Arts Online
The reality was hilarious, but the humour was subtle, understated, and laced with visual jokes, shocks and plays on reality, unreality, digital and real frames of reference.
We started with Mamoru flicking through a seemingly light-hearted comic tale of impregnation, pseudo-pregnancy and diagrammatic biological cartoon tableaux.
He's got a stupendously subversive way about him. There was a point in the show where digital blood suddenly ran across the room and screen, shifting from a humorous moment to a rather darker point.
Playing against this darkness, is a graphic, comic strand popping up now and then which involves bunnies. Lots and lots of cartoon, stylised bunnies. Pregnant is a really eventful live art moment, loaded with pathos, sardonic wit, shifting realities and digital curiousity.
This edited version of Mamoru's piece demands further viewing; decibel09 is intended to be a showcase for diverse culture promoted by Arts Council England. If he pops out of a burrow near you, make sure you catch this fascinating mix of live and digital culture.
To find out where you can see Pregnant, visit Mamoru’s own site
See excerpts from the show on YouTube
More about Decibel09
Visit Disability Arts Online
