THE SPACE BETWEEN THE LETTERS is a new multi-disciplinary, research-based performance project that investigates adult learning, the production of knowledge, and the socio-political fabric of education in the United States. Integrating recorded interviews with adult students and teachers, interactive video, live-drawing, and choreography, THE SPACE BETWEEN THE LETTERS explores the perspective of adult learners, and considers the ways in which education can provide tools to become empowered as a citizen.
Following previous investigations into aspects of homelessness and child poverty by Lead Artist Eva von Schweinitz, this performance project examines adult literacy and education in the United States through a historical and personal lens. Merging
interviews with adult learners at local adult basic education programs with live-drawing technology and choreography, the performance translates a wealth of research and data onto the stage and into an audiovisual experience.
According to a study conducted in 2012 and 2014 by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), 18 percent of U.S. adults performed at the lowest level of the PIAAC literacy scale (at or below Level 1), which is the equivalent of about 44 Million adults. Further, 25% of people (16 years and older) in NY and Kings County lack basic prose skills, according to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics in 2003
THE SPACE BETWEEN THE LETTERS sheds light on a pervasive issue and an experience largely unseen by mainstream society: how low literacy skills affect a person’s life in regard to their job, health, finances, relationships, and day-to- day decisions, and the strategies used to cope in a world dominated by written language. Acquiring literacy skills as an adult is a radical act of self-empowerment and civic engagement – an effort that needs to be illuminated.
The performance further examines the ways in which the classroom can become both a space of possibility and a space of oppression. Exploring the layers between text, meaning, symbolism, and metaphor, it suggests possibilities for valuing alternative means of expression and forms of literacy. Working with video, sound, live-drawing, and interactive technology, it explores ways of animating written language into “dancing” letters that have a personality of their own, creating a visceral experience of the act of
reading and writing, highlighting both the struggle and process of discovery. Working without a script, the project is being devised through collaboration and collective research. It has been developed as part of the Civilians’ 2017-18 R&D Group and is being produced in part at Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center through the Artist-In- Residence Program where the live-drawing software, that turns writing into drawing into painting and vice versa, was custom-designed for the performance.
The ensemble is presenting a first work-in- progress showing at JACK on the first weekend of May, hosting discussions after each performance.
COLLABORATORS
- Lead Artist: Eva von Schweinitz
- Ensemble: Lanxing Fu, Claire Moodey, Jonelle Robinson, Paul “P-Funk” Stalling, Chris White
- Choreography: Katie Rose McLaughlin
- Creative Coding: Sebastian Gonzalez Dixon
- Sound: Gavin Price
- Easel Demon: Tyler Caffall
- Set: Dan Daly
- Lighting: Alejandro Fajardo
- Stage Manager: Sam Silbiger
- With contributions from John Gasper, Lindsay Hockaday, Barakaat Livan, Letícia
- Machado, Nicolas Noreña, Alice Pencavel, Gavin Price, Courtney Williams & Eleni Zaharopoulos.
