*ATOM is a collective founded in Cape Town in 2016. Their aim is to host holistic events, through multi-sensory stimulation, which supports the shift of the social and entertainment scene from a highly stratified state to one of open engagement across social, cultural, economic and political barriers. While this may seem like a mouthful or a needlessly abstract aim at first, the goal is actually straightforward, although still ambitious: they craft spaces designed to stimulate all areas of consciousness. Through the work of their collective, they aim to influence various spheres of artistic, musical, social and creative aspects in order to create immersive environments which support social connections from the heart… They seem to be terraforming Capetonian nightlife into something more, something less frivolous.

The collective pools their skills and financial resources and, by drawing on their diverse interests, and experimenting with forms of collective engagement, creates events that each take on a life of their own. It seems the idea of a collective is always to defy mathematics, and aim for a poetic universe in which 1 + 1 = 3!

*ATOM is working toward creating a social- and entertainment scene that is open-access and not regulated by any other barrier to engagement except the participant’s taste. Maturely, however, they recognise that they can only do so from within the socio-political and economic systems in which they find themselves. Thomas Dreyer, a member of the collective, acknowledges ‘’that these ambitions depend on the ability of the collective to establish itself as a feasible, sustainable endeavour. Therefore it must function as a business too. While it cannot escape the system it wishes to change, it can harness that same system to bring about positive change.’’

“While it cannot escape the system it wishes to change, it can harness that same system to bring about positive change.”

*ATOM has emphasized that the people in attendance are as much a part of the product as the event itself. By actively welcoming a diverse group of people to their immersive environments through a careful shaping of the space, *ATOM works to dissolve some of the boundaries that keeps Capetonians separate.  An *ATOM press release acknowledges that ‘‘through the multi-layered event structure and the inclusion of a diverse group of people *ATOM aims to dismantle the unacknowledged, yet ever-present, social barriers within our society.’’ It’s a bold task to undertake, but with the success of their first event at the Waiting Room, *ATOM may just be what the Cape Town nightlife scene needs.

Though established in 2016, the collective traces its founding to a series of informal conversations begun by three of its members a few years prior on the dance floors of Cape Town. They discovered shared ideals as they started hanging out, bouncing around ideas and sharing their tastes in music and art. From the core of three budding friendships, additional acquaintances were recommended as informal conversations triggered comments like “Oh, you really should meet so-and-so! They also really enjoy such-and-such and they’re very good at this and this!” Thus, the collective emerged organically, collecting its members over a period of years, until they reached a critical mass of seven and committed to their first project, NOVA.

Drawing on the skills of the group, *ATOM is centred on an alliance between Intrinsic Audio Sessions and PUPIL Visuals. *ATOM supports the synergistic relationship between music and visuals with a team whose varied experiences lie in theatre-making, curation, events management, linguistics and town planning. The crew shares a love of music and art and a belief in the importance of working towards holistic, sustainable spaces and systems.

*ATOM’s concept of a holistic environment seemed to me to be an idealistic notion when set amongst the chaos and bright-lights of the music scene. That was, until I attended their first event, held at The Waiting Room on the 10^th of March 2016. The music was of the low rumbling techno variety, but with an organic feel, acting more like a substance than a sound. The stage, complemented by PUPIL’s visuals, seemed to inflate to the extent where the entire room was a part of the show, as per their design. Through subtle tweaks and additions, The Waiting Room was transformed into a strange, surprisingly homely environment. Essential oil burners were placed in strategic corners of the club, giving off smells such as cinnamon and ginger. A small Spekboom plant stood next to the DJ booth and in many nooks and crannies stood crystals and plants of all descriptions. The floor had been carpeted, and created a strangely unique dancing experience: it seems I had taken for granted how accustomed I was to having the soles of my feet stick to the hard floor. In the place of that was a soft, warm tread as the crowd swayed and bobbed together, transfixed by the hypnotic images being projected in front of them. Lastly, the people were different to what I would normally experience. It was an unexpected surprise to go to a place I know well and see faces I could not recognize. I think this may have been their crowning achievement: to get some of Cape Town’s social bubbles to let down their membranes and disperse, allowing us all an opportunity to flex unused social muscles of introduction and meeting, outside of our comfort zones, in the familiar shape of a dance party.

*ATOM’s goals are ambitious. It appears they wish for no less than the upheaval of the Cape Town music scene. They aim to find commonality that transcends culture and reminds people of a shared humanity. Perhaps their aim in not so much to tear down the social barriers and stratifications, but to remind us all that, actually, they never existed beyond ourselves in the first place: that the distance we feel towards one another is a fabrication of our society and that the walls can be pushed down simply by recognising that. This may be a naïve thought, but wouldn’t it be lovely if they were successful in supporting this awakening? To encounter their work, check out OPIA, which features Berlin-based producer and DJ, POWEL.

Wednesday 11^th May, at The Waiting Room, Long Street, Cape Town. Doors open 20h00.

*ATOM is an emerging collective exploring the construction of immersive dance experiences that supports participant networking. A favoured curatorial strategy in the construction of these environments is to play with all the human senses by setting up synaesthetic relationships between them. To read more about their first event, NOVA, see Issue 3 of Any Body Zine or contact *ATOM at theatomcollective@gmail.com or on Facebook.

Rafael Powell is a freelance writer and editor with experience in the art industry. He works and lives in Cape Town, South Africa. He is the creator and editor of AmpersandOnline.