THE CITY OF COMPTON AND ITS REBEL BODIES IN THE SUPER BOWL 2022: CARTOGRAPHY OF FIVE SCENOGRAPHIC STRATEGIES DESIGNED BY ES DEVLIN

On February 13th, 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Super Bowl LVI took place and was watched by 208 million people. During halftime, a fifteen-minute musical performance was held in which the protagonist was one of the most stigmatized territories in the history of the United States: the city of Compton, Los Angeles County. For the first time in a Super Bowl, a stigmatized place, its architecture, its streets, and its rappers were made visible and shown to the world thanks to the artist and set designer Es Devlin. The objective of this research was to reveal the scenographic strategies designed and implemented by Es Devlin's studio to transfer Compton's idiosyncratic atmosphere and complex spatial dynamics to the stage. This was performed through both a comparative study of Devlin's work and a series of maps, drawings, and analytical cartographies regarding the scenography built for the Super Bowl 2022.

Automated summary

On February 13th, 2022, Super Bowl LVI took place at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and was viewed by 208 million people. During halftime, Compton, a stigmatized area in Los Angeles County, was showcased for the first time in Super Bowl history. This research aims to uncover the scenographic strategies used by Es Devlin's studio to capture the unique atmosphere and spatial dynamics of Compton on the stage through comparative analysis and mapping.