SHOPPING CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE

Shopping Center of the Universe is a live performance that blends puppetry, film, prose, and music to explore how the architecture of consumer culture shapes our sense of self and our relationship to nature. Onstage, intricately hand-built puppets and cardboard sets are animated live by performers in front of multiple cameras. The live feed is projected above them alongside narration and musical score, allowing the audience to experience both the raw mechanics and their cinematic expression simultaneously. Inspired by a real Home Depot parking lot that I have been living across the street from for 18 years, Shopping Center of the Universe asks if we think of a parking lot as a naturally occurring phenomenon, does that make us feel more like natural creatures? How do we reconcile the predicament of being born a soul in a body, raised in a Walmart?