Text by CLOT Magazine
Sigmund Freud described three levels of the mind: the conscious mind (all the mental processes of which we are aware), the preconscious mind (feelings and thoughts we are not aware of), and the unconscious mind (feelings and thoughts inaccessible to consciousness but influences human behaviour).
Esteban Fourmi and Aoi Nakamura are the founding members and artistic directors of AΦE, an Ashford-based dance company. Esteban and Aoi have worked for Sean Rogg’s immersive experience The Waldorf Project, and choreographed, directed or performed in stage productions and short films like Wound, Für Eli, The Night Opera, and Kai.
WHIST is their most recent project. It is a beautiful physical theatre and virtual reality production that blends 360˚ interactive film, soundscapes and an architectural art installation you can touch and interact with. We attended one of their performance in London, and it was an incredible and mysterious experience. When you enter the room where the performance takes place you find out a series of objects to interact with, then once the VR headset is worn AΦE takes us on a 60 minutes journey in which our unconscious guides our path. You enter into Freud’s world where the boundaries between real and unreal, consciousness and consciousness and physical and virtual are blurred.
WHIST which takes its name from the classic English trick-taking card game has a total of 76 narrative possibilities, so it creates an individual and unique experience for each viewer.
