Created by Graham Sack, Geoff Sobelle, John Fitzgerald and Matthew Niederhauser
Based on The Object Lesson by Geoff Sobelle
Installation Design by Steven Dufala
Written by Graham Sack, Geoff Sobelle, and Sarah Hughes
Tribeca Film Festival Storyscapes, April 2018
New York Theatre Workshop Next Door, May 2018
objects in mirror AR closer than they appear fuses augmented reality technology with an immersive theater installation, inviting audiences to reflect on the relationship between new media and archaic objects; 21st-century technology and 19th-century magic; and memory and optical illusion. The piece creates a philosophical playground to explore the shifting relationship between images, memories, and things.
The press called it “an impressive technical and social experiment…a seductive meditation”, “next-level”, “full-on fun”, “visually engaging”, “unique and Also Awesome”, “a true exploration”.
Produced by Sensorium, Arvore Immersive Experiences, New York Theatre Workshop, Jecca Barry, Sarah Hughes, and Elliot B. Quick
XR Creative Direction by Ricardo Laganaro
Sound Design by SilVR
Integrated Archive Design by Jamie Boyle
Technical Direction by The Molecule and Sensorium
Lighting Design by Adam Blumenthal & Chris Kuhl
Prop Modification by Joe Silovsky
Illusion Design by Steve Cuiffo
Interactive Projection Design by Matt Romein
Prop Master Daniel Froot
Executive Producers: Ricardo Justus, Edouard de Montmort, Paula Linhares, Marcos Tellechea, Guillerme Somlo in association with Reagent Media
All photos by Mathew Niederhauser.
Written & Directed by Graham Sack
Based on the novel by George Saunders
Executive Produced by Jenny 8. Lee
Producers Graham Sack, Sensorium, The New York Times, Penguin Random House, Plympton
Co-Producers Sarah Hughes, Quentin Little, Josh Elkes, Bonnie Kathleen Ryan
The New York Times VR App, February 2017
With Keaton Nigel Cooke, Jake Hart, Sam Lilja, Mark Linn-Baker, April Matthis, Pete Simpson, Robbie Tann
"Really wonderful."
–George Saunders in New York Magazine
It's the eve of the Civil War and President Abraham Lincoln is struggling with not only the fate of the nation he leads, but also the recent loss of his young son Willie. In this immersive narrative VR short, created as a companion piece to George Saunders' novel Lincoln in the Bardo, Lincoln pays a nighttime visit to the haunted cemetery in which his beloved son has just been laid to rest. The viewer is placed in the perspective of one of the ghosts stuck in the "bardo", or purgatory, between life and afterlife. Additional press about the piece can be found in Variety, Entertainment Weekly, and Fast Company.
Directors of Photography Sensorium
VFX The Molecule
Sound Design SilVR
Original Music Luke Allen
Background Actors Frank Bowman, Olivia Gilliatt, Stephen Hill, Zac Jaffee, Robby Lerman, Jon J. Masters, Bonnie Kathleen Ryan, Daphne Skeeter, Susan Stout, John Williams, Lenore Wolf
Photos by Mathew Niederhauser.
Performed by Geoff Sobelle
Directed by Graham Sack
Written by Graham Sack, Geoff Sobelle, and Sarah Hughes
Technical Direction by Sensorium
Based on The Object Lesson by Geoff Sobelle
Co-Produced by New York Theatre Workshop with Graham Sack, Sarah Hughes and Sensorium
Released by New York Theatre Workshop, January 2018
The Object Lesson is an installation and immersive theater performance created by Geoffrey Sobelle, which was presented at New York Theatre Workshop in Spring 2017. The show is set in a storage facility of gargantuan proportions where audiences are free to roam and sift through the clutter, creating a space of reflection and wonder as Sobelle unpacks his relationship to everyday objects. Expanding upon the themes of memory, personal archiving and objectification raised by the theatrical performance, Subject: Object is a virtual reality experience that immerses the viewer in the perspective of various objects both pedestrian and humorous: a faulty typewriter, a rotary phone, a wine-glass, a short-circuiting lightbulb, a box of detritus.
Special Thanks to Caitlin Baird, Jeremy Blocker, and Chip Rodgers
Photos by Mathew Niederhauser.
