Maquette is a live physical-virtual performance that brings together motion capture, contemporary circus and a gaming engine. Orchestrated, captured, and rendered in real time, the evening length production is both a cautionary and hopeful tale probing how the lossy nature of digital representation blends away the unique features of human physicality. 

Drawing on research into figurative sculpture, and design and algorithmic bias, Maquette is particularly inspired by Norma, a 1940s statue created by a prominent American gynecologist. Made from the averaged measurements of 15,000 white women aged 21-25, Norma’s “ideal body” was exalted through prominent scientific and cultural institutions. Maquette creatively explores Norma’s unsettling story, and how art, science and technology often work together to create false ideals and social bias.

Featuring immersive projection and spatial audio, Maquette unfolds over six scenes simultaneously in physical and virtual space. An intentional subversion of the radically stereotypical representation of women (hyper-sexualized) and men (hyper-violent) in the majority of gaming content, Maquette brings four performers with unique movement styles into the gaming engine, representing them with elemental materials and forms. At first drawing attention to how modern culture captures and represents “female” and “male,” Maquette evolves to blend ballet, circus, martial arts, bboying, and yoga asana in a unique movement style that pushes the boundaries of what “human” looks like to both the physical and the programmed eye.

Performances
Xtensions 2022, Onassis ONX, New York (Maquette Alpha)
ONX + IDFA DocLab MoCap Stage 2022, De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam (Maquette Alpha)
DEMO 2023, Onassis ONX, New York
MAXlive 2023, Onassis ONX, New York

Supported by
NEW INC / New Museum
Onassis ONX
OptiTrack
Media Art Xploration
EY Metaverse Lab

Credits

Created by
Lisa Jamhoury

Choreography and Performance
Hybrid Movement Company
Françoise Voranger, Grasshopper Mitch, Andrea Nikki Ortiz, Graham Reese

3D Modeling
Woraya Boonyapanachoti, Lisa Jamhoury, Rongyu Li, Guðjón Örn Lárusson, and NYCAP3D

Unreal Engine Development
Sneha Belkhale, Kevin Peter He, Lisa Jamhoury, Matt Romein, Yilin Zhang 

Unreal Engine Development and Technician
Christopher Strawley

Motion capture technician, animation
Lisa Jamhoury, Isabella Heron (MAXlive)

Audio concept and script
Lisa Jamhoury 

Audio Effects
Nicholas de la Motte

Audio Engineer
Matt McCorkle

Dramaturg
Emily Reilly

Storyboard Illustration
Jessica Hearn

Producer (MAXlive)
Mary John Frank

Special Thanks
Todd Bryant / NYU IDM, Becky Schutt

Photography (MAXlive) 
Alycia Kravitz, Luis Suarez (Suar Fotos)