The Immersive 5 with itchy-0

Audiences have been blown away for years now by the ecstatic performances of the 57-member avant-mystical maximalist performance collective known as itchy-0. While based in Denver, the collective has been known to materialize for events like Austin’s Fantastic Fest, where they recently opened the genre film festival with one of their signature ritual-like affairs.

Earlier this season itchy-0 pulled back the curtain on their summer event, the Tetrapolar Purification Ceremony with a feature length developer diary, and now ahead of their annual Hallowmass at the Summit in Denver on October 28th and 29th they’re back to run the gauntlet that is The Immersive 5.

The Immersive 5 series asks creators across the various immersive disciplines the same five questions in search of both their approach to crafting work, and the elusive nature of immersive work itself.

NO PROSCENIUM: What does “immersive” mean to you, and what terms do you use when talking about your own work?

itchy-0: When we are immersed in anything, time takes a back seat.

Getting there, however, requires relinquishing control; trusting the experience to emerge organically.

Our shows have gained a reputation for running like clockwork, and there is a lot of pre-show prep, planning, practice, and rehearsal. But for us the real glory lies in the chaos beyond the bounds of mere organization. Before “showtime,” we throw any script over our shoulder and trust that the algebra will be there when we need it. You just never know what blend of people or energies are going to join us in co-creating the experience, and we like it that way.

For us, immersion is mystery, tantalizing performer and attendee to follow where it leads. We provide breadcrumbs, inviting our audience deep into, through, and, ultimately, beyond the barriers surrounding the self.

For many we simply provide a raucous world of rhythm to throw oneself into with abandon. But underneath, our aim is to make a splash that sends positive, uplifting, and lingering ripples out into the real world, beyond the event, promoting quantifiable, positive, cascades of change in its wake.

We love the emergent synergy that arises in the interplay between artist, art, audience and the wider world.

It’s what gives our work meaning.

NO PROSCENIUM: What should every creator be thinking about first and foremost when designing for the audience?

itchy-0: Speaking for itchy-O, our primary concern is always to provide our audience with an ecstatic, rapturous, and/or cathartic encounter with the transcendental.

But whatever else we, as creators, are doing, we enter the performance space to serve our audience of supporters, patrons, and collaborators.

That means balancing our own peak performance needs with their needs for entertainment, illumination, and escape.

Our work lies in riding that line between what we are compelled to share, and providing our audience with a meaningful experience. Finding the balance between what we want to say, and the experience they came to lose themselves in with us.

These days, a lot of art seems to get degraded to its lowest-common-denominator, pandering to an audience’s needs which just becomes fodder for the algorithm. No real consideration for the stresses, striving, and struggle which embroils each audience member’s day-to-day life. There is, for many, a void where meaning wants to live. They have come to the event to be lifted out of the muck of the mundane, to break the bonds of the ordinary and to re-enter the world renewed.

Knowingly or not, they come to be liberated, elevated, and transformed in subtle and meaningful ways. They come seeking connection to themselves and others, to leave behind the world of regulated decisions to discover and delight in our orchestrated chaos.

Bearing in mind our role as creators in the service of an audience, we reflect on three primary questions:

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What service are we providing our patrons? What would we like them to take home? Moving forward, what will be different with respect to how they perceive, be, and behave in the world?

NO PROSCENIUM: What did you wish you knew when you were starting out with this stuff and what’s the one thing you’d tell a creator starting out today?

itchy-0: The world has enough “art” made for the masses. Focus on creating something personal and impactful.

Don’t worry about scale. No matter how big or small your project becomes, the personal is always where the work is.

And don’t waste time on regret. Every mistake is an opportunity for learning. If you fail to learn you will have the opportunity to fail again the same way until you do. Humans learn by trial and error. Mistakes are our greatest teacher. We learn much more from them than from our fleeting successes. Anything done better wouldn’t have led to where you are now. Keep your eyes open and focused on the possibilities, as opposed to being blinded by the fear of what might be.

Finally, invest in your vision; crimping on equipment saved us a few bucks in the short-term, but ended up costing us shit-tons.

NO PROSCENIUM: Why do this kind of work and not something more “traditional” that might have more mainstream appeal at the moment?

itchy-0: It ultimately comes down to what resonates. We resonate more with primal absurdity than we do with popular trends.

We always come back to the essential spiritual experience of being human. Trends come and go. We’re less interested in being a temporary pop blip than being true to our subversive punk roots while providing a conduit to a timeless, transcendental adventure beyond the ego.

We love our niche, and we love offering our niche more of what we love.

NO PROSCENIUM: What inspirations — and anything is fair game here — are currently shaping your creative practice?

itchy-0: The impulse is to say everything we’ve ever enjoyed, but having said that three life-altering titans immediately spring to mind.

In San Francisco in the late 80’s and early ’90s an industrial bluegrass–experimental–noise conceptual art band called Caroliner Rainbow colorfully delivered true immersion in an experience that was like the weirdest alien-haunted crypt you’ve ever seen.

The wildly prolific Sun City Girls were only slightly more traditional in terms of performance, but their costumes, pageantry, processions, audience interaction and implementation of unconventional instrumentation–including the gamelan–were a huge influence on our sensibility.

But perhaps biggest of all was Crash Worship — a movement born out of the SoCal punk scene evoking the 90s modern-primitive movement — whose shows were less about the music and more about the raw thrill a performance can provide. Totally immersive, their shows were all flesh, oil, fire, danger, and thrills. A totally modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah on acid. We’re often compared to Crash Worship, but the raw power they delivered was unparalleled.

Of course our diversity–in both culture and expertise–influences, informs, and elevates what we do.

Japanese Taiko, Indian dance, American drum corps, Chinese lion dancing, Mexican street procession, Balinese gamelan, esoteric ceremony and symbolism, binaural entrainment, and novel electrical systems are all essential to the itchy-O experience.

And, of course, our unique corps of performers each elevate our performances with their rich individual backgrounds, influences, and disciplines.

That diverse wealth of experience blended in synergy with the energy of the gathering is truly what makes a great itchy-O event.

On the shoulders of giants, as the saying goes.

Discover the latest immersive events, festivals, workshops, and more at our new site EVERYTHING IMMERSIVE, new home of NoPro’s show listings.

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