Boundary-pushing ‘real-time club-theatre’ set to take over The Lab
New York-based virtual studio Team Rolfes will take over The Lab this weekend, bringing Australian producer Ninajirachi along for the ride wearing a mocap suit to become a ‘near-future memory hunter’ called Eris Wonderful.
It took me many painful minutes to come up with an introduction to this story, because describing the ground-breaking work of Team Rolfes in words is like explaining how a camera works to a peasant girl from the 1700s.
Team Rolfes is an NYC-based collective that uses virtual reality, motion capture suits, the metaverse, experimental club music, and real-time digital rendering to craft what they call “club-theatre”.
It’s set to be shown off at The Lab this Saturday, alongside some likeminded locals who also push tech to its limits for their contemporary performance art, including a collaboration between Adelaide’s Messianic Gloss and New York-based artist Kevin Peter as well as a triple threat from Capital Waste, Quartz Pistol and Michael Ellingford.
For Team Rolfes – founded by artists Sam and Andy Rolfes, in collaboration with Alex Baumann and Array’s Bercov – it’s the final performance of their show called ‘321Rule’ this year, having been shown in Tokyo, Milan and Barcelona over the northern hemisphere summer.
“None of us have made it out to Adelaide before and we’re so excited to explore for a bit after the show,” Sam told CityMag.
“From what I hear, Adelaide has some sublime beaches and wineries, and given that our show at The Lab will be our final performance of 321Rule this year, I have a feeling we will be enthusiastically making use of both.
“That said, we might just lock ourselves in The Lab afterwards and play ASMR slime videos on their big LED screens nonstop… I can’t really speak to what my mental state will be like afterwards.”
The show itself was written by spam-poet Jacob Bakkila (whose Twitter account @horse_ebooks generated underground acclaim in the early 2010s) and follows years of 3D live performances from Team Rolfes who have previously worked with popstar Lady Gaga, fashion label Kenzo, and producers Danny L Harle and Arca.
The live stage adaptation brings together real-time 3D avatar theatre with a high-BPM soundtrack.
“It’s half sardonic digital slapstick, half hyperpop scream ballad,” says Team Rolfes.
Australian DJ and producer Ninajirachi is the special guest of Team Rolfes for the Adelaide show. She will take on the role of Eris Wonderful, described as a “memory hunter gig worker navigating a twisted, near-future metaverse”.
“We’ve been fans of Nina’s for a while and we can’t wait to collaborate on this one,” says Sam.
“Each show takes on its own unique personality and pace, depending on the starring performer and staging, and we’re so excited for this one with Nina to let us break down the formula and luxuriate in the spectacle a bit – to push the audiovisuality beyond what we’ve managed in the past.
“I play the VR puppeted ‘Client’ hiring her and, well, we’ll end up yelling at each other a lot.”
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Sam says The Lab is the ideal space to present 321Rule – with the walls covered in LED panels.
“We do push tech to its limits, and as anyone who’s had to deal with tech recently can probably relate, there is often a lot of slapstick comedy, and infuriating tragedy, inherent in dealing with tech of any kind,” says Sam.
“321Rule is a culmination of not just the various digitally-catalysed psychoses our team has developed while working on virtual performances, music videos, and other glitchy things over the years, but also of the diverse forms of performance we’ve experienced along the way: 3D character narratives, motion-captured musical visuals, VR puppeted panic attacks, things like that.”
‘Sam and Andy Rolfes are operating right on the edges of technology, art and performance’. Photo: Supplied
The show is the last major production at The Lab in 2024 and caps off a “huge year” for the venue according to The Lab at ILA creative producer Lewis Godwin.
“We kicked off 2024 with a rebrand, moving from Light ADL to ILA – better encapsulating our vision as Adelaide’s Centre of Immersive Light and Art. We launched this with a big party to start off an even bigger year of programming which was free for punters and had a lineup of Adam Page, our own Lab Rats, Soylent Green, and Wonderballs Jam Band Revival Band with members of Slow Mango, The Bait Fridge and more,” says Lewis.
“This set the tone for the rest of the year which has been super fast-paced and super fun. Anyone who witnessed the experimental free jazz of Ryosuke Kiyasu (Japan), the Indonesian techno of Gabber Modus Operandi, or the gothic theatre of Mondo Psycho will attest – 2024 has been huge at The Lab.”
Lewis says he’s seen Team Rolfes twice: at Dark Mofo in 2019 and Soft Centre festival in 2019.
“I walked away from both performances thinking: ‘What the fuck did I just see!’,” Lewis says.
“It’s safe to say Sam and Andy Rolfes and the team they work with are operating right on the edges of technology, art and performance.”
Lewis says The Lab will continue to be “as diverse as ever in 2025”.
“I have to stay tight-lipped for now, but safe to say we have some truly surprising and exciting global acts confirmed for next year and proud to see local artists pushing their skills to international levels.”
Team Rolfes present: 321 Rule
30 November, 2024
8pm-12am
The Lab, ILA
Tickets