Sleep Mode is an Augmented Reality experience. The AR was presented with a live performance on September 17, 2022 as part of Luminex 2.0: Projected Realities in DTLA

Sleep Mode would not have been possible without composer and vocalist, Kathryn Shuman, lead choreographer and dancer, Samantha Mohr and dancers, Shauna Davis, Joan Fricke & Symone Holliday. Thank you to Nicolas Robbe and the team at Hoverlay and everyone at NowArt.

Sleep mode denotes the position between on/off, an in-between state of paused but ready.  This technology reference is applied to the body’s various phases of rest and unrest in the work.

Many of us struggle with anxiety stemming from the realities of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, gun violence, attacks on the LGBTQ and trans communities and now, the erosion of bodily autonomy with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The number of hours and quality of our sleep has diminished due to numerous factors, however, interactions with our devices is a major cause for this shift. Sleep Mode employs the screen to present holographic bodies magnifying the space between awake and asleep; a state of restlessness as a near perpetual disruption to being.

Agitation and surrender are reflected in choreographed movements, heightened through editing and presented as AR in South Park Commons, a quiet oasis, framed by urban residential spaces where one presumably finds rest. A vocalized soundscape cycles through the textures of sleep states. 

At Luminex, a live performance reflected the space of dreams and revealed interactions between the holographic bodies and real bodies of the performers. How might we collectively find rest, regeneration and sustainability in this world of 24/7 media?