Ralph Upton & Joel Baxendale (Binge Culture) - Unauthorised audio tours
Channel: NDF - National Digital Forum
Date: 2016-12-07

Lightning talks 3:30 - 4.30pm Tuesday 22 November, Main Stage (Soundings), Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand.

Full Title: Unauthorised audio tours: Theatricality in new technologies

An action chase in a museum. A musical adventure in supermarket. A mythic guide to a tiny park. Joel Baxendale and Ralph Upton are part of Binge Culture Collective, a Wellington-based performance company formed in 2008. For the last few years, they’ve been exploring site-specific, audio-based performances, from single track solo experiences to experiments in GPS triggering. Their first audio-based work was an unauthorised audio tour of Te Papa, which led the listener on an absurd journey through the museum.
Ralph and Joel will discuss their making process for this and subsequent works, and share some of what they’ve learned about the relationship between technology and creativity.

Joel Baxendale and Ralph Upton are part of Binge Culture Collective, a Wellington-based performance group founded in 2008. Their Unauthorised Audio Tour of Te Papa has been available to museum-goers since 2014, and was followed this year with Enter the New World, a Pocohontas-inspired audio adventure for supermarkets. Binge also created the community performance Whales (Best in Fringe 2013), which they have performed around New Zealand.
Joel is highly involved in the Wellington independent theatre community and recently directed "A Trial: at BATS theatre. Ralph is currently working as a writer at Te Papa.