Lima Alpha India Kilo Alpha

M a r t i n X S. X G o t f r i t XXXXXXXX[works]


	Lima Alpha India Kilo Alpha an electro-acoustic multimedia performance [music available here]
(L.A.I.K.A. software screen)	Lima Alpha India Kilo Alpha is a live electro-acoustic/multimedia work for music performer, virtual puppeteer and real-time 2 & 3d animator. A meditation on the early days of Soviet space exploration, the sounds and images are derived from archival material (sound recordings, images and telemetry) as well as synthesized timbres, orchestral samples, puppets and a live video camera. A somewhat narrative work, the main protagonists are Yuri Gugarin and Laika; two beings that captured the imagination of the planet in the late fifties with his courage and her sacrifice.
	(L.A.I.K.A. software screen detail)
For both the music and image generation, a variety of physical interfaces influence software (written in Max/MSP/Jitter) running on two linked computers. The touring version of the work is in four channels with a single video projection and features Alexander Dulic (puppeteer, camera), Martin Gotfrit (composer/performer) and Kenneth Newby (real-time animation/projections).
		The first being to travel to outer space was a stray terrier named Laika.
	She was sent aloft on Nov. 3, 1957 inside the second spacecraft to reach orbit around the Earth – Sputnik II. Due to thermal problems she probably only survived a day or two.
		The capsule re-entered the atmosphere on April 14, 1958 - a journey of approximately 100 million kilometers or 2,370 orbits.

	On April 12,1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel to space.	He orbited the Earth once for a period of 108 minutes.
	After reentry he parachuted from the Vostok capsuleas it descended somewhere near the Black Sea coast. A farmer and her daughter observed the strange scene of a figure in a bright orange suit with a large white helmet landing near them via parachute. Gagarin later recalled, "When they saw me in my space suit and the parachute dragging alongside as I walked, they started to back away in fear. I told them, don't be afraid, I am a Soviet like you, who has descended from space and I must find a telephone to call Moscow!".


LAIKA was premiered at the Western Front in Vancouver in March 2004 as part of the Sonic Boom Festival. In October it was performed at the Vancouver Planetarium.

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