Since 1998, you work on commun projects, could you tell us how you work together ?

C.H. : My part in our collaboration is the choreography and stageing, we both create dramaturgy together but it belongs to Klaus to decide what is technically possible – he is also responsible for the sound. In our new piece vivisector Klaus came up with a lot of ideas he tried out on the computer, but did not see live, so we already had a basic for our choreographic work as well. Mostly of the time it is a giving and taking – we use the body as a living screen that gives breath to the image, but we also use the image as a developement of the real body-as soon a special dance sceen is finished, we film it and Klaus starts to manipulate the material on the computer, he comes back into the rehearsalstudio to try out some animations that manipulates the dance and the whole atmosphere of the piece again, together then we work on transitions and see if the ideas work out live as well, but this all comes after a lot of discussions and theoretical work.

K.O. : It is an integrativ way of work. Because of the close relationship of video, dance and music, ideas may start with either of the 3 media.

Do you think that the future of digital creation is the dramaturgy of the installations ? do installations need a “ staging ” in order to be less conceptual?

C.H. : I do not think it is absolut necessary, but it brings the installation closer to it´s spectator, it helps to feel the hard of a creation ; a good dramaturgy is always a save bridge to the other side.
K.O. : No. But I think that the “live” moment is still very exiting for the audience (and for me). Personally I like the mixture of human and digital -socalled augmented reality. Performances may have but do not necessary need a dramaturgy of the installations. If installations are done well they do not need “staging”.

What is the importance of the image in your work ? What does it bring to you ?

C.H. : Compared to other video dance works the dance cannot exist without the video and the video without the dance, both media need each other, otherwise you would not recognise the other one – Sometimes the image can make your ideas much more concrete. Mostly of the time you are dealing with abstract movements that move you from inside, but the video comes from outside. To bring both directions together, to combine it and to turn it around is the hard part for the performer but it is also the challange of the performance.
K.O. : My way of using images gives me the opportunity to integrate body into video and vice versa, to switch from reality to vituality live on stage.

Do you think that the use of new technologies in stage leads to a new relationship with the audience or a new mode of work ?

C.H. : As soon the work makes sense and is not just another try out of different technologies it will of course force the audience to look at it in a different way
K.O.: Both.

How do you integrate the image to the choregraphy ?

C.H.: For me the most important parts are the transitions between virtuality and reality, between image and organic bodies, I would not like to use a videoprojection, if I have the possibillity to show the same things with my dance, so I try to deal with the image in the same way, as if it would be a real movement on stage.

How can I continue a virtuell movement ? What makes a movement organic ? When is the image a necessarely developement?

Because we do virtuel masks, the real body comes before the image, this means that you develope everything out of your own body and this brings the manipulated image closer back to you
K.O. : In a very new and elaborated way of body projections. But the main goal always is to create a well working dramaturgy. Here music is very important to me.

What is the porosity between the body, the image and the machine ?

C.H. : Until now : the artist !

K.O. : The boundaries grow indistinct and are deactivated.

What is your desire when you are using these video projections ?

C.H. : On stage my only desire is to stay in the projections, otherwise the audiance would not see anything, but in the creation you can go further into hopes and fears of futuristic directions, you discover a fantastic projected figure that becomes a real, sweating personality on stage, my desire is to bring this together

Image as an excrescence of the body ?

C.H. : At least the image is an excrescence of a brain as the body can be a excrescence of the brain , or the body is an excrescence of an image !

K.O. : I deal with the potential future removal of limitations upon the body. It will no longer be just the aging process that will be putting the body through changes; the undreamed-of intervention possibilities make the body itself into an “object of sensation².

Chris Haring & Klaus Obermaier 2002/Interview Isabelle Arvers