IN PROGRESS: THE WAIT OF EXPECTATION
Lead Artist + Performer: Sophie Penkethman-YoungTechnician + Collaborator: Charlie Kember
Dramaturg: Harriet Gillies
Score: Andy Garvey + Ali Wan Hill
Technical Guidence: Solomon Thomas
Special thanks to Emma O’Neill
In Progress: The Wait of Expectation is a diary-like live video essay that looks at the techno-psychology of the loading bars and digital icons that placate us as we wait for our apps to load and our technology to come online. This witty digital performance examines what loading means and how its personality, quirks, smell and function have changed over time. The tumbling hourglass, the UberEats animation, the spinning wheel of death: all of these symbols seduce us into a spell that suggests progress is being made. However, they are a gateway into a false economy.
Part MTV TRL showtime, part vaporwave mumblecore dystopia, In Progress: The Wait of Expectation is a deeply personal work that celebrates these tiny constructed moments of calm and questions our need for them.
In Progress: The Wait of Expectation was commissioned by Performance Space. In Progress: The Wait of Expectation was is supported by the New South Wales Goverment through the Create NSW Small Projects Grant. In Progress: The Wait of Expectation is supported by the Creative Practice Lab, School of the Arts & Media, UNSW Sydney. This project was supported through a residency at Theatre and Performance Studies, the University of Sydney, and a residency at Brand X.