Production still for "Amplification". Rennie McDougall (lying), Timothy Harvey. Photographer: Jeff Busby

Amplification

22 March 2011 – 26 March 2011 Merlyn Theatre

Malthouse Theatre, BalletLab,

Dance Co-Production

Amplification is a portrait of the body in chaos. Using the car accident as a metaphor for mental/physical disassociation, Amplification examines the thresholds of the human body's response to sound, light and physical impact. Developed through research conducted at a hospital emergency ward and the Melbourne morgue, Amplification magnifies the 1.6 seconds 'disassociation' freeze time which occurs at the moment of impact. Skidding, sliding and crashing into a world of body bags, pain, healing, reality and unreality, Amplification deconstructs and reconstructs the site of impact with scientific fascination and a morbid fascination with the body in chaos. Amplification is an exploration of densely layered, highly technical and studied partnering; revealing the possibilities of death, ritual, burial and torture within the form of an installation.

"A RAW AND POWERFUL WORK WHICH AT TIMES IS CONFRONTING TO THE POINT OF DISCOMFORT ... AMPLIFICATION IS NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED OR THE PRUDISH."

— Herald Sun