HARSHINI J. KARUNARATNE photographer | vj | projection designer
Photographs by Waleed Shah
Courtesy NYUAD Theater Program
Afterlife: an audiovisual performance, 30-31 March 2018
Abu Dhabi, UAE
A combined thesis in Film & New Media and Theater, this project combines research and audiovisual performance to investigate ways that light and projected images have been tied with representations of life after death.
Popular during the 19th century, magic lantern phantasmagoria shows were spine chilling theatrical experiences that utilized the pre-cinematic technology of the magic lantern, an early slide projector, to create the illusion that there were ghosts in the room. The technologies and performances anticipate video jockeying, a form of live performance that emerged in 1980s club culture, that uses video to heighten club atmosphere.
Based on this research, Afterlife utilizes video jockeying to reimagine a phantasmagoria show and investigate the concept of afterlife as a state of intermediacy. Remixing and improvisation become central to exploring notions of time and light as disembodiment by using the techniques of VJing to play, alter and remix projected visual content in real-time.
Harshini J. Karunaratne - Director & VJ
Sreerag Jyothish - Sound Designer & DJ
Leslie Gray - Lighting Designer & LJ
Nisala Saheed - Set designer
Grace Huang - Dramaturg
Sara Pan Algarra - Lanternman
Killian Dumont - Cellist
Eunsu Choi - Cellist
Sooji Kim - Stage Manager
Chaerin Lim - Stage Manager
and Mateo Juvera Molina, Lauren You, Maria Calderon, Ju Hee Noh, Neyva Hernandez, Lukas Zapolskas, Yasmin Abdelghaffar, and the NYUAD Theater Program.
Life Cycle, 16 December 2017
Tokyo, Japan
The cherry blossoms are in bloom, signaling the beginning of spring. A young boy finds joy in nature’s gift of the blossoming of the flowers. He is taken by their beauty but when the time comes for the petals to fall, he worries. The little boy is faced with the very big question of the meaning of life. If something so beautiful can be gone so quickly, what about life itself? We step into the imagination of the boy as he wonders about the obstacles he will have to face. When the cherry blossoms return in bloom, he realizes that he must accept the cycle of life. He finds happiness at having accepted this. Beauty lies in life’s small and sometimes ephemeral moments.
The piece is inspired by Buddhist and Hindu beliefs on acceptance, detachment and the cycle of life. ‘Life Cycle’ tries to capture an understanding of these concepts within a playful narrative. The piece addresses how some obstacles we have in our lives are those that we create in our minds, and can be overcome with acceptance. Happiness is found in the small moments we sometimes take for granted, and the sakuras are a symbol of life’s ephemeral moments found in nature.
Visuals by: Harshini J. Karunaratne
Sound design by: Keira J. Simmons
'Life Cycle' was awarded the Jury Award by the panel of judges.
Mudança de Dança, 18 July - 3 September 2017
Sao Paulo, Brazil
One of nine works shown on the media facade of the FIESP building, located in Paulista Avenue, for FILE LED SHOW 2017. FILE (festival de linguagem eletrônica) is Sao Paulo's Electronic Language International Festival.
Choreographed and performed by Kai-Wen Yang
Directed and designed by Harshini J. Karunaratne
With the support of Felix Beck, Paula Perissinotto, NYU Abu Dhabi, and FILE Festival
Excerpts from Altra Voce. Video courtesy of Omar Shoukri.
From Bach to Berio and Beyond, 26 April 2017
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Concert hosted by the New York University Abu Dhabi Music Department at the NYUAD Arts Center.
Designed and VJ'd live visuals for the closing number, Luciano Berio's Altra Voce, performed by Clare Lesser and Cristina Ioan.
Fotografare la Luce, 9-14 December 2016
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Italy
Projection designer for Fondazione Studio Marangoni in collaboration with photographer Giuseppe Toscano for FLight 2016, Florence's light festival. 'Fotografare la Luce' was hosted in the Sala d'Arme of Palazzo Vecchio. Also invited to showcase photographic work along with the Fondazione Studio Marangoni's photographers.
Projected in Sala d'Arme, the photographic works of ten young and not so young photographers selected by Fondazione Studio Marangoni . The artists will be challenged on the subject of light. Sunrise and sunset, shadow and light, ghosts and artificial lighting, sparkles and reflections, light trails and waterfalls of light. A succession of images dedicated to the substantial relationship between photos and light.
Contributing photographers: Alessandra Capodacqua, Beatrice Bruni, Camilla Cheade, Daniela Tartaglia, Federica Rugnone, Pierpaolo Pagano, Harshini J. Karunaratne, Giuseppe Toscano, Jessica Bizzoni, Marco Castelli, Margherita Verdi, Martino Marangoni, Oxana Tregubova, Teresa Bucca.
#florence, 5 & 7 December 2016
Villa La Pietra, Florence, Italy
“#florence” is a multi-channel video installation by Harshini J. Karunaratne that examines images posted to Instagram that are hashtagged ‘Florence’. Hundreds of images of Florence are posted everyday on Instagram alone, and thousands of hashtags along with them. The use of the hashtag, indicated by a word following the ‘#’ symbol, was intended to group posts together in order to easily locate specific content. However, hashtags are often generic, limiting, or simply do not provide any sense of context to the image.
This installation detaches the hashtags from their images in order to examine the words associated with the city. What image of the city is evoked from #s alone? How do #s enrich or devalue the city? The installation also composites photographs of the city taken by the artist in order to reflect on the value of image making at a time when similar kinds of images are easily created, shared and consumed.
#florence was showcased publicly on 5th December, 2016. A private showing was held on 7th December, 2016.
Installation by Harshini J. Karunaratne
Sound designed by Keira Simmons
Technically supervised by Luca Ragazzo
with support from Giuseppe Toscano, Alessandra Cappodacqua, Davide Lombardo, La Pietra Dialogues, the David J. Travis Research Fund, and NYU Florence.
Composited images that were part of the installation. Photographs by Harshini J. Karunaratne, composited using Modul8.
Photography by Gaar Adams
Existential, 24-25 November 2015
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Existential is an immersive installation that explores what it means to be from two different places and how perceptions of the 'self' are influenced by the 'other'. It is based on the idea of being 'interrogated' with questions that seem simple by nature, but have complicated answers. Existential is a projection mapping-based live performance that showed on 24-25 November 2015 at New York University Abu Dhabi.
Directed and performed by Harshini J. Karunaratne
Technically supervised by Grace Huang and Garreth Chan
Sound design by Garreth Chan
Collaborators
Attilio Rigotti
Simon Wilkes
Grace Huang
with support from Mateo Juvera Molina, Abda Kazemi, Walter Ryon, and the NYUAD Theater Program.