Scarbo pirouettant (2019) On the occasion of the comprehensive solo exhibition Logical Fantasies in spring 2020, figurines whirl in three circular projections on the vaulted ceiling of the former sacred building of the Kunsthalle Jesuitenkirche Aschaffenburg. A closer look at the ephemeral figures reveals that this is an almost baroque illusionism: it is not the figurines themselves that are spinning in the vaulted ceiling eighteen metres above the visitors' heads, but only their shadows, which, when viewed through red-blue glasses, detach themselves from the ceiling and project their movements into the room.

Gaspard de la Nuit – Bertrand, Ravel & Schad To the sounds of the third movement Scarbo from Ravel's piano work Gaspard de la Nuit, expressively interpreted by Igor Pogorelich in the 1980s, Tim Otto Roth and former Munich State Ballet soloist Zuzana Zahradníková developed a choreography closely based on the various motifs of the score, which not only sends the shadow of the goblin Scarbo whirling through the vaults. Another important artistic reference point is the shadowgraphic oeuvre of Christian Schad, to whom a museum has been dedicated in the immediate vicinity. Like Maurice Ravel, he was also inspired by the posthumously published prose poem collection Gaspard de la Nuit by Aloysius Bertrand (1807–1841). In the 1960s and 70s, he dedicated an entire album of late Schadographs to these fantasy pieces in the manner of Rembrandt and Callot – shadow images of more or less everyday objects, which he captured at night in the darkness of his studio directly on photographic paper.

The goblin in the computer tomograph One of these objects was reactivated for one of the ceiling projections with a figure made of crumpled foil, which Schad created for Scarbo . With the help of Prof. Jörg Laubenberg, the fragile figure was digitised using a computer tomograph in the radiology department of the Ortenau Clinic so that it could then be animated as a model with the movements of the dancer. For this purpose, Zahradníková wore a motion capture suit during rehearsals at the Heinz Bosl Foundation in Munich. In the 3D programme Blender, the movement data was transferred to a total of three figure models, and then the shadows were rendered in the virtual cone of light in a highly computationally intensive process using ray tracing.

Three figures – three dance concepts The figures not only have a characteristic appearance, but also their own formal language: in the circular projection in the middle, Zahradníková animated a mannequin, which Christian Schad had used in the 1930s, to weave an increasingly dense tangle of threads, behind which the figure slowly disappears. For another projection, Roth collaborated with the dancer to choreograph a baroque repertoire for a mannerist ring figure inspired by an engraving by Giovanni Battista Braccelli. The repertoire for Schad's transparent foil figure, on the other hand, is based on modern dance.

Choreographic turnaround The dance action in the presentation in the church vaults rotates 90 degrees: whereas the view in a stage-like dance performance is normally horizontal, attention in Scarbo pirouettant is shifted to the vertical. The corresponding focus on the shadows projected onto the floor is a completely new experience and also a change of perspective for the experienced dancer Zahradníková, who was previously accustomed to looking into the mirrored wall during rehearsals. But it is also a turnaround for the visitor, who can experience the shadow dance in the Kunsthalle Jesuitenkirche while reclining on floor cushions.

An original mannequin from Christian Schad's archive rotates in front of a red and blue light source, casting a double shadow.

Zuzana Zahradníková dances 'scarbo piroutant' at the exhibition opening on 6 March 2020 in the Kunsthalle Jesuitenkirche, Aschaffenburg.

Seat cushions provided the opportunity to experience the anaglyphic shadow play in the ceiling vaults at a height of 18 metres while sitting or even lying down.

For ‚Scarbo', the foil figure was animated as a computer model. In the exhibition, the original was presented in correspondence with the ceiling projection. Credit: Stefan Stark.

Dancer Zuzanna Zahradníková rehearsing for 'Scarbo' at the Heinz Bosl Foundation in Munich. A tracking suit was used to record her movements for the computer model animation.

Christian Schad's original foil figure welcomes visitors with a double shadow right at the entrance to the exhibition. Credit: Stefan Stark.

From the gallery, which marks the end of the exhibition, visitors enjoy a view into the baroque interior of the church.

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Skiagraphic staging of the original objects Scarbo pirouettant can be experienced every half hour during the exhibition period in alternation with the water organ aura calculata. But the two figures from Christian Schad's collection, which were animated to dance, can also be experienced in their original form. Hanging at the entrance, the small, transparent foil figure welcomes visitors, casting a blue-red double shadow on the wall. The mannequin, which rotates in a glass case in front of a red-blue light source, rounds off the exhibition on the gallery.
The exhibition catalogue and a film documentary retrace the most ambitious project in the Stereaskia cycle to date.

Overall concept and choreography: Tim Otto Roth, imachination labs
Dance: Zuzana Zahradníková
Photography: Stefan Stark PhotoProduction
Camera/editing: Miriam Seidler & Tim Otto Roth, imachination projects
Music: third movement from Maurice Ravel's 'Gaspard de la Nuit'
Piano interpretation: Ivo Pogorelich (1984)
ⓘ 3-channel video 1080p, 9:30 min., 2-channel sound