Auckland’s Great Hall will be transformed into a dynamic set of moving architecture, spinning beds and liquid surfaces for Sleep/Wake. The journey into the unknown world of sleep is a part performance art installation and part dance work from designer Sam Trubridge, in collaboration with Massey University’s Sleep/Wake research centre.

Trubridge says space, environment and landscape are critical aspects of his work. “I am not interested in the performer operating in a void, rather I see them operating in a field of architectural, social, and conceptual relationships created by the environment around them.”

Sleep/Wake won two awards in the 2008 NZS Fringe Festival: Best Production Design and Most Outstanding Performer (for Maria Dabrowska). It was also Highly Commended in the Most Original Concept category.

During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?
During my 4-6 am REM cycle or waking from dreaming with my mind racing and dawn growing in the sky.

How would a good friend describe your aesthetic or style?
That I have an extreme case of Virgo-itis.

What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill?
Always discovering more than you set out for.

How does your environment affect your work?
Being a performance designer I am always aware of space, its affect on the creative development of a work, and upon the creative relationships between the collaborators. Space, an environment, and an appropriate landscape are critical for the creation of my performances. I am not interested in the performer operating in a void, rather I see them operating in a field of architectural, social, and conceptual relationships created by the environment around them.

Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?
You can’t have one without the other. If a jigsaw puzzle is missing a single piece, then the empty space where that piece should be affects the whole picture, and my feeling about it. Maybe this is more interesting than the jigsaw being complete, but nonetheless it demonstrates the significant relationship between the two.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?
If it has been done before, then it probably won’t work again like that.

Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?
Sleep/Wake 1.3, the Auckland Festival season.

Who or what has inspired you recently?
The Russian film-maker Lev Kuleshov’s and his experiments with editing. He alternated one shot of a 1920’s matinee idol with various other shots: a bowl of soup, a girl playing, and a coffin. His test audiences raved about the quality of the idol’s acting, when in fact it was the same shot completely. As a performance designer it is quite a revolutionary discovery.

If you could go back and choose a completely different career path to the one you've chosen, what would it be?
As a marine biologist.

What place is always with you, wherever you go?
It is not one place, because I grew up living on a boat, moving around. Instead it is the boat and this shifting landscape of my childhood and of my dreaming: of oceans, islands, bays, cays, and peninsulas. It is a rootless ‘no-place’ of movement, journeying, floating, and discovering.

What's the best way to listen to music, and why?
When traveling: on a train is the best, but just when walking somewhere, or on the bus is great too. The world unravels around you and everything you see seems to be fluid, choreographed, and musical.

You are given a piece of string, a stick and some fabric. What do you make?
A kite.

What's the best stress relief advice you've ever been given?
Learn to say no.

What's great about today?
Well, I always wanted to answer a questionnaire like this…

What’s great about the Auckland Festival 2009?
Their programming of so much new and experimental work. From ‘White Body’ to a great collection of new, experimental, local productions, the Festival have to be applauded for showing their commitment to developing the arts locally whilst continuing to challenge us with great new work from overseas.

What’s your big idea for 2009?
To research and test environmentally sustainable strategies for touring live performance internationally. It is important to take our work overseas, so I feel that festivals and companies can begin to reconsider what it means to tour a show in our current economic and ecological environment.