A Survival Research Laboratories performance is a study in choreographed chaos. Mark Pauline, the group's founder, claims SRL is about "projecting an idea through a really powerful mechanism, under your reasonably complete control." On stage, automated machines, remote-controlled robots, and even high-tech weapons interact like cruel mechanical gladiators in an arena filled with black smoke, smoldering debris, sirens, and the shrill clash of metal on metal.
The Will To Provoke: An Account of Fantastic Schemes for Initiating Social Movements is... a documentary about the San Francisco-based SRL's 1988 European tour and includes live performance clips, interviews, and a spooky calliope soundtrack.
Although the shock factor of the live spectacle undoubtedly loses something in the translation to video, I appreciated the insight of the interviews with Pauline and his "creative technicians." There's another advantage to renting the video vs. seeing a live performance - as one audience member commented, "I got so much petroleum on my glasses it was difficult to see "
The Will to Provoke: US$25. Survival Research Laboratories: +1 (415) 641 8065.
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