In a post-apocalyptic world, a group of townspeople must work together to change their fate and their town’s destiny.
This isn’t the synopsis of an upcoming science fiction film. It’s the storyline of the most recent interactive performance project from Complex Movements, a Detroit-based artist collective.
Carlos Garcia, one of the four artists in Complex Movements, also works as managing consultant at GroundWorks Media Lab in the Duderstadt Library’s Digital Media Commons. Garcia graduated from U-M in 2012 with a degree in performing arts technology and a concentration in engineering.
“What we’re trying to do in Complex Movements is get away from the typical performer-on-a-stage model,” breaking down the barrier between audience and performer, Garcia says.
Complex Movements’ interactive performance and art projects are inspired by the ideas of Detroit-based activist and philosopher Grace Lee Boggs. In a 1996 speech, Boggs highlighted the intersection of complex sciences and social justice movement building.
“For example, with birds flocking together, there’s no singular leader in the flock, but they still navigate together. And ants can self-organize and do amazing things. So the question is, how can we take some of these concepts and apply them to better organize our communities? We’re doing that through creating this immersive art, music and community organizing project,” Garcia says.
Complex Movements is made up of Garcia, a multimedia artist and the group’s performance systems designer, and three other local artists: visual artist and graphic designer Wesley Taylor; music producer and filmmaker Waajeed; and lyricist and organizer Invincible (ill Weaver).
Garcia works closely with his fellow artists to integrate their various artistic disciplines into one system.
For their most recent project, titled “Beware of the Dandelions,” Complex Movements constructed a 24-foot-wide “pod,” a mobile art installation that functions as a performance and visual arts exhibition. Audience members enter the pod in groups of 35 people at a time.
Inside the pod, a 3-D sound installation and projected images describe an interactive science fiction scenario. The audience members enter the storyline as townspeople struggling to maintain agency in a post-apocalyptic world.
“Their town is being run by corporate powers, the ‘Captains of Industry’; the people aren’t happy. The story is that the participants figure out together how to change their situation through various principles inspired by complex sciences and nature,” Garcia says.
Complex Movements is scheduled to take “Beware of the Dandelions” on tour to Seattle, Detroit, Dallas and Miami.
There’s a clear synergy between Garcia’s work with Complex Movements and his position at GroundWorks Media Lab; both Complex Movements and GroundWorks operate on principles of multidisciplinary collaboration.
“I learn things with Complex Movements that I can apply to my work here, and vice versa,” Garcia says.
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GroundWorks, which is open 24/7 and staffed until 9 p.m. almost every day, features software and hardware for creating, editing, and converting audio and video recordings. The lab is one section of the Digital Media Commons in the Duderstadt Library, which includes audio and video studios, a 3-D lab, and more.
As managing consultant, Garcia manages the team of student consultants who also staff the lab. He is also available to assist U-M community members with their creative endeavors, whether they’re writing software or putting together video content.
“Having been an engineering student and a music student at different times, one of the things that is cool about the Digital Media Commons is that it’s a hub for intersection and cross-pollination,” Garcia says.
“Anyone can come and use the resources. It’s not closed to any specific majors or fields. So, it’s highly likely that if you’re a student from one school, you’ll be interacting with students from other schools and interests.”
