Afterlife

ONLY SLIME (Norway) : Afterlife

Developed and performed by the interdisciplinary duo ONLY SLIME (Tobi Pfeil and Claudia Cox), AFTERLIFE follows two 3D-characters through an operatic fantasy computer game underworld on their desperate quest for existential meaning. Using real-time motion tracking, and hyperpop-inspired autotune vocals with electronics, the two performers on stage control two avatars in a game engine, traversing both Dantean and Final Fantasy-inspired landscapes on their existential search for purpose and understanding of their world.

The time-motion capture video game opera is based on a real near death/out-of-body experience that Claudia Cox had during an acrobatics accident in 2021, and has transformed this experience into a unique piece of staged, existential performance science fiction that has been performed to raving reviews in Norway.

The piece combines elements from Greek mythology, contemporary internet-culture, simulation theory, AI-generated material and computer-game storytelling techniques, and playfully questions life after death and the meaning of life in an operatic form that is absurd, hilarious, thought-provoking and transgressive in its combination of music, technology and live performance.

Its use of a game engine in a staged performance is unique - and explores an innovative mode of interaction with technology, mirroring the increasing integration of game mechanics in the storytelling and media of today.

Trigger Warning: Contains flashing lights, references to death and suicide

Supported by Arts and Culture Norway