Artistic conception:
Siegfried Canto, Magali Desbazeille and Valéry Volf
Text: Gilles Leroy
Performance: Valéry Volf
Images and stage design: Magali Desbazeille
Sound: Siegfried Canto
Lighting: Renaud Lagier
Graphic design: Julie Edler
Max/msp jitter programming: Jérôme Tuncer
Set building and lighting engineer: Franck Delâtre
Computer programming: Sébastien Courvoisier
Translation: Maura Pollin
Production: Vincent Eches
Distribution: Licinio Da Costa



Made In Productions
Tel. : 00 33 (0) 01 75 43 17 80
liciniodacosta@madeinproductions.eu
Tel. : 00 33 (0)6 29 83 22 93
vincenteches@madeinproductions.eu
Tel. : 00 33 (0)6 13 50 49 55

		ARTISTIC DESCRIPTION SPY is a trio made up of a protagonist (the performer) and two operators (the sound designer and the image designer). The performance lasts approximately 70 minutes. SPY is a performance for theater, dance, video, and Internet. Today, 50% of the population of the Western world is connected to Internet.
Every month, over 2.7 billion search requests are made on Google. SPY exposes Internet users' desires through the enquiries they make on search engines. Those searches are displayed real-time during the performance. The stage setting is white, bare. A 4x3m computer screen is centered on the stage, facing forward. The screen is made up of Venetian blinds and positions us between inside and outside. The Venetian blinds are motorized which means that the space can evolve. The protagonist's laboratory and the 2 operators, seated at their work table (audio, video and Web control station), are behind the screen. Their feet are visible; the rest of their bodies are hidden by the screen at the beginning of the performance. The protagonist expresses himself through live and prerecorded speech, through actions and movements. The protagonist is more than a character in the performance; he is a mediator. What does he seek in his hypnotic observation of other people's desires? What about the audience, a group of potential Internet users, what have they searched recently?
The structure of the Web defines the theatrical form of the performance: Internet searches appear as a constant flow of words projected on the screen. Using pre-identified searches, the protagonist launches sequences involving texts, actions, dance, video and/or sound. There are two time frames: real time and fictional time. The real-time searches that are displayed are central to the project, like a condensation of other people's desires. They are also a hidden flow made visible, and the object of considerable economic stakes (among the largest Web companies: Google, Yahoo). The pre-selected searches that are the subject of scenarios alternate with the display of real-time searches. The images, sounds, texts, voice-over effects… are prerecorded.		What about you? What do you look for on Internet? - gift ideas - kitkat package code - Saint Jerome - IDIOT - adult sex video - fucking on a boat - life insurance - how to get high - bandwidth efficiency - tennis instruction - is the holy spirit… - how to kiss - retinal detachment - singing soccer - zelda walkthrough - age morphing - us labor history - has anyone ever told you - dog's life… Prélèvement des moteurs Lycos et Dogpile, avril 2008.
Searches made during the work-in-progress performance of SPY Temps d'Image / Arte, at the Ferme Du Buisson, October 2008, performance time: 40mn The 4x3m computer screen is made up of motorized Venetian blinds on which Internet users' searches are displayed real-time.
Texts
The texts were written specifically for SPY. The protagonist-mediator asks us questions throughout the performance: "What are you looking for? On the screen, there? Everyone's looking for something. Everyone. People look for their keys in their pockets, they look for their cars in parking lots, they look for a spot, they look for an occupation, they look for a job, they look for meaning here on Earth, a place in the sun, they seek fortune, they look for trouble, they look for a way, they search and they search. They look for the solution to a sudoku, they look for solutions to all their problems…" Gilles Leroy. Prerecorded voices of Internet users are heard throughout the performance. They represent the multiple "I"s and Web experiences.		In counterpoint to Internet users' searches, extracts of documentary texts present the economic and political dimensions of the network. - Where are the "roots of the Web"? the ones that give a name/identification when you set up a Web site? Is ".fr" really located in France? - How much do companies bid for the word ? and for and ? A simple click of a mouse by a user costs them between 0.19 and 7.20 euros. Searches (words) are auctioned off and generate substantial revenue.
The protagonist creates a second screen with strips of wall paper. The bands of wall paper become statistical bars displaying the top 10 searches. Prerecorded avatars appear and talk with the protagonist.
"Pebble" text: live voice and protagonist's avatar voices alternately
I have no imagination because I don't look up "pebble". I have no vices because I don't look up "latex". I never look up "little girls". I have no curiosity because I don't look up "digs", I don't look up "Maldives", I don't look up "Egypt". I have poor hygiene because I have never done a search on "using bleach to whiten teeth."		Still, my keyboard gets disinfected every Sunday night. Still, I sometimes take a plane to go to the beach. Still, I use protection because I love myself. Still, I have dirty ideas. Still, my heart is as dry as a stone." Gilles Leroy.
Superimposed prerecorded and real-time images.   Handwritten action based on typed searches Extract from a conference with Michel Serres   Sequence on pornography, the body takes back what is its own.
Extract from the "Colin Farrell" text: live voice of the protagonist
"What surprises him is that he spends his days typing his own name on Google. Colin Farrell. He types his name, Colin Farrell, hundreds and hundreds of times every day, every night, looking to see if anyone has written anything about him, anything new, and of course, he is		disappointed, because even world-renowned stars like him don't have something new written every minute, a new aggression, a new compliment…" Gilles Leroy.
Extract from the text: "the beginning and the end": the prerecorded voice of the protagonist.
"…they look for a diagnosis for a hyperactive child, they look for the adult prognosis of a hyperactive child, they look for an explanation for depression in babies, they look for an explanation for that pinkish ulceration on the end of the penis, they look for a forum on drug-resistant Chlamydia, they look for tonight's TV program, they look for a hotel, they look for a low-cost ticket, they look for peace, they look for peace and quiet, they look for a new friend to go rafting with on weekends and maybe more, they look for a sensitive man (and no womanizers, please), they look		for an angora cat, a chocolate Labrador puppy, they look for a Russian fiancée, a Filipino handyman, they look for an angora rabbit, they look for a tattooed dog, a pedigreed dog, a risk-free dog, a trained dog, a hair of the dog, they look for sheep to help them sleep, the sleep of the just, they look for a little peace, they look for a little fresh air, a peaceful sleep, a bit of heaven. Far from words, the joy of those who no longer expect anything." Gilles Leroy.
Production and credits
Production: Made In Productions Coproduction: TEMPS D'IMAGES 2008 / La Ferme du Buisson, Scène Nationale de Marne-la-Vallée ; DICRéAM Residencies: Le Fresnoy - Studio national des Arts contemporains de Tourcoing ; La Chartreuse de Villeneuve-lez-Avignon ; Centre national des Écritures du spectacle. Special thanks to the Centre National de la Danse for use of their studio, and to the Associations Artère and Soundpixel for the use of their equipment. Voices: Emir Azaiez, Paul Barrier, Agathe Berman, Anne Beaumond, Max Cuccarro, Olivier Mansard, Pierre Pollin, Victor Reiltinger-Desbazeille, Lara Suyeux, Kylie Walters.		Thanks to: Clarisse Bardiot, Véronique Bellin, Sandrine Bouchetal, Francis Bras, Alice Chambas, Olivier Cousin, Joseph David, Tom Daniëls, Agnès Fierobe, Elena Fokina, Thomas Fougeirol, Emilie Houdent, Sébastien Kott, Eric Lassalle, Estelle Pagès, Michel Pages, Catherine Perret, Pierre Reitlinger, Alban Rouge, Caroline Schirman, Helder Seabra, Michel Serres, Josette Sultan, Mathieu Tank, Alexandre and Marc Valenti. The performance SPY presents Internet search requests taken real-time from search engines. Contents are not filtered. Certain images, texts or sounds could offend the audience. Therefore, the performance is not recommended for children.