The Eternal Straight Line
Lighting design exploring themes of life, death, and digital preservation through smoke, shadow, and layered illumination.
Overview
The Eternal Straight Line is an interdisciplinary performance produced by Anarchy Dance Theatre that explores how technology reshapes our understanding of life and death. Blending dance, light, and drifting smoke, the work evokes the delicate tension between warmth, consciousness, and the fleeting nature of existence.
My Role
I was responsible for the overall lighting design and the technical programming of atmospheric effects. Using the grandMA2 console, I orchestrated the lighting, smoke, and wind control systems. To ensure the artistic vision was executed with flawless consistency, I utilized Timecode to achieve high-precision control over the timing and volume of smoke release, synchronizing environmental elements perfectly with the choreography.
Design Process
The development phase involved a series of experiments to understand how light, smoke, and movement interact in space.
Smoke Flow Control
Smoke behavior is governed by two primary forces: temperature and airflow. By controlling the temperature of the smoke, we can make it settle and hold at a specific height. By controlling airflow with fans and HVAC systems, we create a fluid circulation loop within the space — directing smoke to move from stage right to stage left, or vice versa.
Height Calibration
Testing how smoke behaves at different release heights — using tape markers on the backdrop to track whether smoke released at 3 meters would hold at that level or drift higher. This helped determine the optimal placement of smoke machines for each scene.
