Presence of Absent

The public will enter a dark space, lit mainly by the screens that reveal the profile of someone. Proximity wants to remark on the frontiers of digital interaction, as well as the invasion of privacy. At the same time technological development is brutally marking the values, what should be visible or not, what information we consume, and how marginalization is still a present strategy of control. 

"Presence of Absent" is the first staging of research begun in the context of the pandemic, during the complete lockdown. Computed interface represented an escape from isolation, and later the only possibility to work: the construction of a creative space of interaction between a body in Mexico, a media director that receives, modifies, and mixes several video inputs in Europe, and a musician that creates a sound space from another geographical point. The first investigation between Cistifellea Collective from Europe and Cesar René Perez from Mexico began in the second half of 2021 with the performance Agresión y Dignidad. The performance premiered in fully digital format at the end of 2021 on several digital platforms, such as Twitch, Facebook, and the website www.cistifellea.eu.

The staged performance presented at this time is the prelude to a full-scale production, Codes of Absence, that will premiere at Theater Im Depot in June 2023.

With: Cesar René Perez, Nicolás Cristancho, Vera Rivas

Text: Cesar René Perez, Vera Rivas
Sound, Original Music: Nicolás Cristancho
Design, Media: Elena Tilli
Staging: Elena Tilli, Cesar René Perez
Graphics: Hector Venegas Mendoza
Photos: Carolina Ribelles

Special Thanks to: Kai Tuchmann, Hector Cruz