Created by Samara Hersch, Body of Knowledge is a durational performance that stages intimate, intergenerational conversations between teenagers and adult audience members, exploring themes of sexuality, consent, grief, pleasure, and body politics. The teenagers, connecting via phone from their own bedrooms, engage one-on-one with adult participants in a live yet physically distant encounter, creating a non-hierarchical space for listening, reflection, and discomfort.

As the creative technologist and technical manager on the project, I developed the full infrastructure that made this work possible: a live, anonymised phone routing network; an adaptive remote and in-person audio mixing system; and a cueing and scripting tool to manage the real-time unfolding of the show. The system was designed to be robust and sensitive, ensuring privacy and clarity across multiple overlapping conversations while remaining unobtrusive within the artistic framework. The work toured internationally, adapting to local contexts and languages while maintaining its technical complexity behind the scenes.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we developed a remote iteration of the work: For the Time Being (2020). This intimate audio encounter took the form of a voice message delivered from a teenager to an unknown adult—sometimes hours, sometimes continents away. Continuing the themes of Body of Knowledge, this project asked how connection, intimacy and attention might persist in the absence of bodies. I again designed and implemented the technical system, ensuring secure and seamless message delivery across time zones and platforms, with minimal infrastructure required from participants.

Both projects explore the political potential of listening and intimacy across distance, relying on carefully developed technical systems to support their gentle but radical premise.