A Crash Course in Cloudspotting
by Raquel Meseguer Zafe
An invitation to pause.
To rest.
To listen.
A Crash Course in Cloudspotting is an intimate audio journey exploring the depths of human connection and the subversive act of lying down.
Over the past five years Raquel Meseguer Zafe has collected over 300 stories from people living with invisible disabilities and chronic illnesses around the country.
This immersive audio work invites you into the heart of these personal experiences. In this fragile and beautiful space, resters from across the country will illuminate your horizontal journey with a gentle choreography of lights, activated in the space by patterns of rest we so rarely see.
Watch the trailer below.
“This piece is one of the most significant Unlimited have supported, as it redefines not just who can become involved but how. This work makes the invisible visible, and gives agency over to those who are usually ‘unseen’. And it does so beautifully, showing us that we are truly equal after all.”
— Jo Verrent, Unlimited
Information for programmers
A Crash Course in Cloudspotting can be experienced as a 35-minute audio installation or as a 55-minute installation & performance led by Raquel.
Access & technical information
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The work is audio-led and therefore can be enjoyed by blind or visually-impaired audiences. Previous presentations have organised touch tours of the installation prior to performances.
The experience is not accessible for audiences who are profoundly D/deaf, but is accessible for those who use a hearing aid or have some hearing.
A copy of the script can be circulated ahead of the experience.
A space for wheelchair users is factored in to the installation build.
The installation & performance are relaxed in nature, softly-lit and with no sudden loud noises or changes in pacing.
Presenting partners may wish to offer ‘bubble’ performance slots for households or groups with higher Covid risk factors.
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The installation & performance space is ideally 10m x 10m.
This space should not be cold or draughty to ensure audience comfort, and should be quiet and free of fragrance or other external stimuli.The installation hangs from a 3m diameter aluminium truss. We need to hang this from 4 points on the diameter of the circle. We need a minimum height of 5m.
The overall weight is estimated at 150 kilos (TBC Jan 2021). Our production manager assures us this should be easy to achieve in theatres with a lighting rig and other hanging points. Gallery spaces can be considered but would need to have the appropriate rated points.
We require a fast and uninterrupted internet connection. The toured computer plugs in to this connection and controls the LEDs as 24 people perform remotely, using light as a metaphor for presence. This will visually communicate their real-time patterns of rest, and create a bridge between audience in the installation and people often absented from cultural spaces by their conditions.
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Click here to view a video of the installation in the Herbert Gallery, Coventry.
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Digital Presentation
A Crash Course in Cloudspotting can also be presented digitally in a gallery space absent an installation, or entirely remotely as an
at-home experience.
Audience members receive an accompanying booklet and are invited to set up an area to rest in a quiet space, get comfortable and enter the experience on their mobile browser.
Here they will hear a spatial soundscape of loops created by other audience members and by others resting
across the world in real-time.
Credits
Resting stories written and read by: Indigo Ayling, Anna Berry, Abbie May Hastings, Justine Mclaughlin, Andy Morgan and Pilar Sanchez.
Conceived by Raquel Meseguer. Devised in collaboration with Artist & Theatre Designer Sophia Clist, Dramaturge Laura Dannequin, Composer & Sound Artist Jamie McCarthy, Artist Tom Metcalfe, Sound Designer Charles Webber.
Produced by MAYK. Commissioned by Camden Alive, Co-commissioned by Unlimited & MAYK. Supported using public funding by Arts Council England and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
The original production was commissioned by Unlimited and co-commissioned & produced by Ovalhouse.