YOU (Arcade | Sentimental)

 
Is this a variation on the cult arcade game Pong (although here it is the walls which move, not just a ball)? A variation on a game of skill (only here it’s the voice which bounces back)? A funhouse mirror from a fairy tale (catoptromancy, or divining with a mirror)? Or is it just a reflection of the self? In any case, You multiplies the voice effect and gives it the absolute power to change space. Using a mirror, the visitor discovers facets of his/ her own voice or scream.
 

You, a piece imagined by the transdisciplinary artist Tsirihaka Harrivel, is the prologue to his upcoming project Arcade | Sentimental. A contemporary variation on the theme of the French traditional game of massacre (a form of release which allows you to vent your anger on whatever image which triggered it), Arcade | Sentimental projects us into oddly playful declensions of truly liberating experiences. As frightening as they may be joyful, these alterations in the coordinates of what is possible lead to pleasing experiences dealing with our own power to act, to move.
 

The structure, its innate promise of amusement belying that which allows it to reverse/ upset values and principles over the short time frame of a game, makes You a fun revisting of arcade and simulation games as well as those we may play at the fair. The sound and musical effects, the choice of colors and unsuspecting interactivity spill into this dramatization through action. You is about experience as well as observation: the visitor is both actor and spectator.
 

The continuation of the Arcade | Sentimental project will take place in a rather labyrinthian journey, in Extended Reality (XR), under the influence, where the technological fantasy of a better world and the similar fantasy of getting our most cherished wishes to happen — meet. In a journey interrupted by traps and mines and strange events, the audience is constantly bumping into reality. The space adds a fictional dimension to the physical experiences offered: the body becomes the lever in fine for the proposed problem, with action as the only real option.
 

You premiered on December 17, 2022 at the CENTQUATRE-PARIS, under the auspices of the Foire Foraine of Contemporary Art. The premiere of Arcade | Sentimental is planned for 2026.

 
CREDITS:
TSIRIHAKA HARRIVEL direction, creation & script
VIMALA PONS collaborator to the artistic director
ÉMILIE BRAUN construction, collaboration on the structural script, maps and mechanics
THOMAS LAIGLE collaboration on the script; designing lighting and sound
MICHAËL TAMIMY programming, conception of the protocol for the digital dialogue, collaboration on technological materials
LOUISE SIMON assistant, script collaboration
MATHILDE SALAÜN construction
NICOLAS PICOT and DAVID BLONDEL motorizing and studying the structure
SAMY ASSAAD stage management
MATHIEU HILLÉREAU – LES INDÉPENDANCES administration, production development, touring
ALICE COUZELAS and PRUNE ALLAIN BONSERGENT initial pitch and launching of the production part of the project
 

Production TOUT ÇA/ QUE ÇA
Coproductions Le CENTQUATRE-Paris, Le Cirque Théâtre (Elbeuf), La Brèche (Cherbourg en Cotentin)
Financial support French Ministry of Culture – DRAC Île-de-France, CNC DICRéAM
Residencies La Briche, Saint-Denis