Dream Encoding

April 23, 24, 25 1993, Brooks Hall-Civic Audiorium, San Francisco

written by Belén García-Alvarado and Randall Packer in collaboration with Pamela Z

performed by Pamela Z

Dream Encoding was a satire on the multimedia industry, performed at the Apple Expo West trade show. The work featured a fictitious product called the "Art-O-Matic," a device that turns anyone instantly into an artist. Just plug and create.

The performance involves a marketing person (Pamela Zed) selling the Art-O-Matic to an audience of believers. Half-way through the presentation, she transforms herself (via the Art-O-Matic) into an avant-garde performance artist (Pamela Z), sporting a bodysynth that allows her to manipulate imagery and sound with the movement of her body. She could also control her former corporate self, now held captive in the computer, typing monotonously until the end of time.