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At the end of this perilous journey, the SDS emerges as a tranquil haven to set against the mayhem of getting there. Visitors are politely asked to remove their shoes and a young lady, dressed all in black, steps forward to tell us softly that the performance is in two parts: we can watch for forty minutes after which there is an opportunity for our own initiation rite of interacting with the physical installation. Images of dancing around the totem are quickly dispelled since I’m looking at a bare dance floor, adorned only with two large screens (one overhead and the other against the far wall), and so it seems that the installation is likely to be more virtual than physical.

The whole experience has this tribal feel. We learn that ‘SeaUnSea’ is a ‘shifting, unstable place’ which is apparently inspired by the rootless seaweeds of the Sargasso Sea. This concept is delivered by the movement of three dancers being filmed: the resultant images are absorbed into a digital environment that produces a shoal of fantastic creatures on the two screens. Some are obviously people but these silhouettes transform into vividly coloured sea anemones and psychedelic shapes that might be created through a drug-induced, etch-a-sketch session. The screens occasionally went blank for long periods and we could concentrate on the real, human movement of the dancers, rather than the computer-enhanced interpretations thereof. But the computers always regained control, imprisoning the dancers once again within their digital matrix.
 

As pure dance, the movement freely conveyed multitudinous images of a tumultuous sea life (greatly enhanced by the evocative seascape sounds composed by Alistair MacDonald) and was watchable for its own sake but this performance is much more about what the camera sees and the computer interprets. The end product is an intriguing, ever-changing work of art that leaves an enormous catalogue of images (some of which reminded me of the abstract paintings of Victor Pasmore) imprinted in the memory.

Having shyly declined the opportunity to interact with the camera and computer and become a sea anemone myself, I decided to brave the return journey to Elephant & Castle Island. I have no doubt that the imaginary world of ‘SeaUnSea’ was an altogether safer place to be.