when we speak at the same time we speak the same language

COVE/COVOX - Lauren Prousky

When we speak at the same time, we speak the same language, is a collaborative performance-based project about exciting conversation, a wave, momentum, and the slippery present. Using linguist Deborah Tannen's term "cooperative overlapping" as a starting point, When we speak aims to capture the feeling of participating in the type high-involvement intoxicating conversation that wraps participants up and buoys them in a shared present. The work takes the stance that these conversations can suspend time, creating a mutual now in place of easy reaction. Through the convergence of performance, sculpture, video, text and machine learning, we're asking: What happens when we give in to the flow of these moments? What happens when we are torn away? How do we express ourselves when we are secure in the knowledge that we'll be understood?

Collaborators & Contributors

Performance Artist – Megan Arnold
Performance Artist – Aashay Dalvi
Performance Artist – Tess Martens
Room Manager – Marie Fewer-Muncic
Production Manager – Cameron Slipp
Costumes – Mackenzie Belfour
Sewing help from – Brenda Mabel Reid and Maria Simmons
Composer – Alex Massa and Strange Winds
Filmmaker and Poet – Ariana Molly
Filmmaker – Maria Simmons
Chat Bot Developer – B Wijshijer
Videographer – David Botros
Video Editor – Jordyn Stewart
Photography – Tyler Matheson

Inter Arts Matrix Team

Artistic Director – Sheila McMath
Audience Relations and Communications Coordinator – Samantha Tai
Digital Projects Manager – Kyle Murphy
Artistic Producer – Isabella Stefanescu
Knowledge Mobilization Lead – Marie Leblanc Flanagan
Digital Engagement Strategist – John Sobol