Suspended in Gaffer

The south London-based pair, comprised of Carol MacGillivray and Bruno Mathez, specialise in a stunning method of screen-less animation, creating works that belnd sound, light, interaction and performance.

Championed by the likes of Greyworld’s  Andrew Shobhen, their work forces the viewer to suspend their disbelief using their signature ‘Diasynchronoscope’ technique, which they say enables them to ‘animate pretty well anything’.

Trope’s Conversio piece at this year’s Frequency festival in Lincoln was a stunning work formed of unwieldy chains, bright white boxes and strange, clunking sound that created a sense of gravity-defying possibilities. 

This week, the pair is unveiling a new work at London’s Tenderpixel gallery entitled Gaffer, which they say will be ‘more conceptual’ than its previous endeavours.

As its title suggests, the piece takes a humble roll of gaffer tape as its starting point, taking it ‘from backstage to centre stage to become the star of the show’, says MacGillivray.

‘The inspiration is the concept of people self-centring and of acquiescence’, she explains.  ‘It’s a study in compliance, so it’s more conceptual, but it’s still interactive’.

While MacGillivray is reluctant to give away too many details ahead of the unveiling of the piece to the public this Friday, she reveals that Gaffer will work through individual audience interaction.

‘There is no proscenium arch’, she says, meaning the entire space becomes part of the theatre of the work, which is housed in an underground space in central London.

Trope says Gaffer is aimed at an ‘adult only’ audience, who can book five minute time slots for the individual performances.

‘It’s a bit sinister in the sense it’s in a basement’, muses MacGillivray. ‘But it shouldn’t be scary – that’s too easy to do when you put people in the dark.

‘It should make people think about their compliance and what it means, at least that’s the theory. The name, Gaffer is a play on words – it’s “boss”, but it’s also something that can guide or muffle you’.

Gaffer will be in place at Tenderpixel Gallery, 10 Cecil Court, London WC1N from 29 November –  11 January 2014. For more information on Trope visit http://www.trope-design.com/