At times, it was as if I were trying to see reality from a dream; at other times I thought an invisible twin was walking beside me, the opposite of a shadow, as it were. - From Austerlitz, W.G. Sebald

In an era when departing for another destination is no longer that obvious and when the proximity of others is unsettling, CREW, with its installation Delirious Departures, once again seeks out the boundaries between reality and illusion. The installation transforms a room in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts into the departure hall of a railway station, the place where all kinds of travellers cross paths, say goodbye, hurry up and wait. Where fragments of conversations, different languages, service announcements, draughts, closing doors, footsteps, passengers slurping coffee and countless other (inter)actions and sounds mingle with each other.

Over the past months, CREW has been making and manipulating a series of 3D scans and drawings of railway stations. Set in a VR environment and combined with embodiment and AI, these snapshots evoke both recognition and alienation. The now of the past seems both familiar and apocalyptic. Past, present and future flow into each other, like a dream and reality. The installation/performance Delirious Departures is populated by visitors (immersants), spectators and performers. You never know if the latter are flesh and blood or AI. Groups of active avatars mingle in the social space of the railway station and interact with the immersants. Actions and encounters are never free of obligation and provoke reactions. The railway station is no longer a neutral crossroads, but a place where you are confronted with your relationship to others.

As an experimental company, CREW wants to make visible the ways technology changes us. The art form CREW employs, which simply put, seeks out the body of the spectator, is immersion. The playground for sharing this immersive work with the public includes theatre, installations and performances. These real-time creations anchor immersion in the here and now. The point of contact between humans and technology is found in the here and now, and CREW confronts a broad and international audience with what surrounds us, our place in it and how we see ourselves.

Science fiction is the best way to describe CREW’s way of working with an international network of artists and scientists. Whereas science fiction is a genre that usually paints a fantasy future, the science fiction CREW creates is a method that makes the future visible using new digital possibilities in the present to unlock, question and propose alternatives.

PRESENT is a three-year EU Horizon 2020 research project on Sentient Intelligent Agents, loosely translated as ‘sentient’ avatars or digital people. The project addresses realism broadly: an avatar may appear photo-realistic, but it is more important that it reacts realistically and that its behaviour can be understood through non-verbal communication. Under this project, CREW is making several experimental productions, including Delirious Departures. PRESENT is developed in collaboration with academic and industrial partners: Inria (FR), University of Augsburg (DE), Brainstorm (ES), Framestore (UK), Cubic Motion (UK), Infocert (IT) and University Pompeu Fabra (ES).

The inspiration for the immersive performance Delirious Departures came from Delirious New York by Rem Koolhaas, The Vertigo Years by Philipp Blom and Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald.

Practical information

The installation Delirious Departures takes place within the framework of Tracks to Modernity and can only be accessed with a ticket to this exhibition. Tickets for the exhibition can be found here. Delirious Departures is available in FR/EN or NL/EN between 10:00 and 17:00 (weekdays) or 11:00 and 18:00 (weekends). Places are limited. Reservation is mandatory. Reserve a timeslot here.

Credits

Concept: Eric Joris and Isjtar

With: Jeremy Killick, Booi Kluiving, Marieke Anthoni, Viriginie Goossens

Technics: Isjtar and Haryo Sukmawanto

3D Design: Eric Joris, Isjtar and Haryo Sukmawanto

Technology research: Isjtar, Steven Maessen and Inria

Production: J.P. Deschepper

Coordination: Lauranne Nédée

Coproduction : EUROPALIA TRAINS & TRACKS