Signal Systems is an interface performance that invites the spectator to conduct a documentary ceremony dedicated to the Remputmash Plant. The spectator is led through this ceremony not by actors, but by technical objects and interactive signs that remind of the past of this place. In the center of the project is the large-scale figure of a steam locomotive: this is the original spirit of the plant. The sound part of the performance is based on archival materials and conversations with workers and other participants in the life of the Plant before its closure. The visual part of the performance consists of documentary and artistic-associative video footage shot on the territory of the Plant.
Spectators interact with the performance interface by standing together on the huge railway signs painted on the floor. The system developed by the artists transmits information about the sign chosen jointly by the audience to the program that controls the performance. Depending on the chosen sign, the performance develops along one or another storyline. Viewers can also skip each episode of the play by moving on to the next. Thus, each session has a plot generated by the audience. The performance starts when the audience activates the first sign which automatically inflates the steam locomotive raising up on the floor.
The performance was created for the "Remput" festival in Perm in the fall of 2020 and a technical show was presented. The premiere was carried over due to the restrictions of Covid.