Spring, 2023. UCSC Digital Arts and New Media.
Come, Fur(r)ies, Dance! was a mixed reality production directed by MFA candidate Rory Willats as part of the Digital Arts and New Media program at UC Santa Cruz. Asta was the sound designer in charge of the technological side of things; they got to help a wonderful composer named Nicki Duval program their score for the show, and do some really fun stuff with Bluetooth speakers and two different sound consoles. Asta was credited in the program as the sound architect.
Three performers were simultaneously acting in VR Chat and meat space. They took the form of bird women to represent the three furies of the Oresteia, and explored the intersection of the internet and the physical world. One segment focused on a digital paramilitary group of anime waifus called the “British Armed Forces” (made up of mostly American teenage boys and young men) that did drills and training for real guns in their virtual world.
Another section focused on a conversation between one of the furies and a mushroom avatar. The other two performers, while this conversation was happening in virtual reality, put little Bluetooth speakers in their mouths and acted out the conversation in the audience.
Below, find a sample of Asta’s sound paperwork.