Do you like watching actors at work? Then go to Lincoln Center before July 31 and sometime between 8:45pm and 11:30pm. Sit by the fountain and face south. You’ll see something magical: Portraits in Dramatic Time.
Artist David Michalek videotaped actors performing in mysterious scenes for somewhere between 5 and 12 seconds in ultra-high definition at a rate of 3,000 frames per second. That scene is then played back on an 85-x-45-foot screen in super-slow motion, so that the 5-12 seconds plays fluidly for 8 minutes or more. There is no recorded sound; the fountain and the city is the soundtrack.
You’ll see some joyous air-guitar playing, a reunion, a kiss, a moment of comfort and one of rage, channel surfing, a weird cocktail party, a woman grieving, a group of sports fans going from elation to despair and much more. Some scenes have something like a narrative, others do not, but all have dramatic moments.
A couple of curious things happen after you've watched four or five of these in a row. You fall into the time of the films and you begin to realize that in your life, moving at real time, the wonder that is human perception actually takes in these myriad tiny details. One scene of a couple having sex (it’s just heads and shoulders) brings this especially to mind. She, underneath him, is in the moment and yet, for what is in real time probably no more than two seconds but in this piece lasts at least a minute, something in her eyes tells you she’s very very far away. That’s a complex human moment, one some of us can relate to, perhaps, and here, played out as it does on that giant screen, that fleeting moment of intimacy-distance becomes epic. My narrative of this scene continues post-coitus, with the two them still in the same bed but miles apart. Perhaps your narrative would be different.
You also forget you’re watching actors and you begin to think you’re watching unstaged, unrehearsed behavior, even though the lighting and sets—a minimum of props and furniture in a dark, black room—are stylized. And this is what Portraits in Dramatic Time is really about. It is a celebration of acting, which many actors will tell you, is reacting. And what you’re seeing on that giant screen is pure reaction. You watch this and you re-appreciate the magic that fine actors perform. The list of actors who participated is long, but here are some of the more recognizable names: Alan Rickman, Lili Taylor, Liev Schreiber, Holly Hunter, William H. Macy, Patti Lupone, Roger Rees, Sarita Choudhury, and Alvin Epstein.
Make your way to Lincoln Center. Find a spot near the fountain and prepare to slow down time. You’ll probably find me there, mesmerized.
And yeah, the title is a Cher reference. What are you going to do about it?
Here’s Alan Rickman.
