Medley of the three scenes / Scene 1: Beginning / Scene 2: Min 1.24 / Scene 3: Min 2.32

YOSHIMI is  a MULTIMEDIA SCENOGRAPHY designed together with Danara Sarioglu and Tigran Paravyan. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is an extraordinary album by the Flaming Lips that tells the struggle of a young women suffering from cancer. The concept is a holistic approach to tell the story and the message behind through stage design, music and immersive projections. For three selected scenes/songs (every scene is one song of the album) we designed audio responsive visuals interacting with the music. The visuals are projected on layered panels of transparent mesh which create a strong sense of depth and three-dimensionality. The fabric structures the stage, provides paths and walls around which the actors can play.

 

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is the story of a successful artist with a tragic fate. To navigate through the rigidness of reality, she escapes to a surreal and personal world, where her art and creativity open up her inner freedom.  

 
 
 

// VENUE

The concept is designed for the Park Avenue Armory in NYC. The wide and open space is perfect in order to stage the performance in an impressive fashion and have the space to play with the panels of fabrics. There’s plenty of space for Yoshimi to fighting the giant polygon robots. Scale was crucial for this choice. In the huge space it is possible to show how small Yoshimi is and how big the world she imagines and she has to fight with.

 

// STAGE DESIGN

 
 
 

Real  World

 

 

Imaginary World

 

Scene 1 / Yoshimi gears up as fantasy world comes to fruition.                   Song: Yoshimi Battes the Pink Robots Part 1

 1. Projection on “curtain” (opaque fabric): polygons turning into a terrain    2. Curtain falls revealing the imaginary world                                                3. Colored splashes and fantastic shapes projected on the transparent mesh  4. Mountains shapeshifting into robots that are moving - Yoshimi fights them

 

Scene 2 / In Dr. Hart and Dr. Harvey’s lab as they inspect one of the defeated robots. Dr. Harvey leaves and Dr. Hart’s wife comes in..                    Song: One More Robot/ Sympathy 3000-21

 1. Lab scenario is lighted up on movable second stage                                 2. The projections of cell devisions stand for the cancer as well as the      scientists trying to fix the robots                                                                      3. Robots in slow motion

 

Scene 3 / Another battle dance seen. Large. Yoshimi is fighting alone. Until she is struck in the leg, and falls wounded. Ben arrives and carries her away Song: The Gash

 1. Projection: zooming out mountains                                                              2. The spotlight is following Ben who carrying Yoshimi from the back of the stage through the mesh panels to the front.

 

 

// VISUAL REASEACH

 

For the fantasy world -  Yoshimi escapes to from here disease, but also has to fight the robots - dripping water color was the inspiration that led to the visuals to see in the first scene.

 

The real world is - in opposite to the fantasy world - in grey scale. For it's esthetics we got inspired by polygon structures. The mountains that symbolize this world look like a surreal triangle massif. The robots - spread out over the whole stage - look on the first regard like part of these grey-silver mountains. Just when the fantasy world becomes alive, those polygon hulks start to move and leave their hidden existence in the shadow.