Living Archive: An AI Performance Experiment

AI Tool(s) Used

• Artificial Intelligence Choreographic Tool: Developed in collaboration with Google’s Arts and Culture Lab, this tool analyzes hundreds of hours of video from Wayne McGregor’s past works and current company performances.
• Motion Analysis Algorithms: Used to interpret and learn from the physical styles and movements of dancers to generate new choreographic suggestions.

Description of Result

The “Living Archive” is an innovative performance experiment that integrates artificial intelligence with choreography, allowing for a real-time dialogue between human dancers and machine-generated movement suggestions. By analyzing historical video footage of McGregor’s choreography, the AI generates new movement phrases based on learned styles, enhancing the creative potential for contemporary dance. The performance is visually represented through a suspended video installation that reflects the interaction of dance and technology.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

1. Collaboration with Google: Studio Wayne McGregor partnered with Google’s Arts and Culture Lab to create the Living Archive, blending art and technology.

2. Data Collection: The AI system was trained on extensive video footage from Wayne McGregor’s previous works, analyzing various dancers’ movements to learn their physical styles and techniques.

3. Choreographic Generation: Once trained, the AI could respond to new movement phrases by suggesting multiple original possibilities for the next phrases. This rapid exchange of ideas fosters a creative environment for dancers.

4. Live Interaction: Dancers engage with the AI in real time, exploring a dynamic dialogue that allows for the incorporation of past movement styles into present performances, creating a living history of choreography.

5. Visual Representation: The choreography generated by the AI is visually represented through a suspended video installation designed by Ben Cullen Williams, emphasizing the relationship between dance and digital code.

Tips & Tricks

• Embrace Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Collaborating with technologists and artists from different fields can yield innovative results, enhancing both artistic practice and technological development.
• Utilize Historical Data: Drawing from a rich history of previous works can inform new creative processes and inspire unique outputs, allowing the past to inform the present.
• Experiment with Real-Time Interactions: Integrating AI into live performance creates a unique dynamic, inviting dancers to explore spontaneity and collaboration in their practice.

Annotation

The “Living Archive: An AI Performance Experiment” serves as a groundbreaking exploration of how artificial intelligence can intersect with choreography and performance art. By leveraging a vast array of dance footage, the AI system reflects on the past while opening up new pathways for creativity in the present.

This experiment questions the traditional boundaries of dance, suggesting that choreography can be seen as a code, one that can be manipulated and interpreted by both humans and machines. It invites audiences to witness a dance not merely as a performance but as a dialogue between historical influence and contemporary expression.

Through this interplay, the Living Archive embodies the evolution of dance as an art form, illustrating how technology can enhance and expand the possibilities for human expression. By bringing dancers in contact with the movement vocabulary of their predecessors, it fosters a sense of continuity and connection within the evolving landscape of performance art. Ultimately, the project highlights the potential for AI to not only preserve artistic traditions but also to inspire innovative forms of expression in the future.

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