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Adrift in the desert, a downed American fighter pilot searches for water and a way out amidst a barrage of mirages and memories. Out of context and increasingly out of mind, he encounters a phantasmal wanderer. Together, they embark upon a persona-melding odyssey that conjures childhood memory and projected image, current events and the mythic aspirations of the past. AUTOPILOT chronicles the molting of this elite Air Force pilot as he wrestles with the great distance he has achieved from the ground and himself on the path to excellence.
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The piece proposes a new, or as yet unrealized, version of war trauma—one engendered by distance and isolation, rather than by ‘shell-shock’ or other violent iterations of over-exposure. AUTOPILOT draws a parallel between the remove the cockpit permits and that enjoyed by much of the American populace as relates to foreign matters. The work locates trauma as a catalyst for change.
A bombardment of dense language and media, AUTOPILOT simulates the vastness of the desert by concentrating the action within a |
crucible-like, modular space. Manipulated in real-time, the set and sound design constitute a performative installation that transforms from show to show. In the first phase of development, the ensemble drew on an array of evocative sources for further inspiration, including the Old Testament’s account of Moses in the desert, Ovid’s Daedalus myth, Saint Exupery’s groundbreaking autobiographical works on the early days of flight, and first-hand interviews with active and retired U.S. pilots who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam.
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Credits
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