2023-09-14 14:57:07
Anyone who finds traveling on the subway in Berlin adventurous probably doesn’t know Marianna Simnett’s donut shop. Or rather: the donut shop in the middle of a subway station that the multimedia artist Marianna Simnett came up with for her first AI-supported opera “Gorgon,” which is now premiering at the Theater am Halleschen Ufer (HAU 2) during Berlin Art Week. Things go haywire at this Subway donut shop. The violently flickering heart attack strobe light suggests it “subtly”.
Greta, who toils in the donut shop, is up to no good. She is a loosely adapted reincarnation of the mythical Athena, who often appears so noble. And because the Berlin-based artist Marianna Simnett, born in 1986, is more concerned with the little-explored side strands of the ancient myth in her contemporary opera, you don’t actually need to know that much about the three mythical Gorgons including Medusa with the serpent’s head. This aspect is particularly important: Athena once invented the double flute to imitate the guttural wails of the Gorgons. Similar to a gurgling in the throat.
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And so it comes as no surprise that in the opera “Gorgon” we listen to a flute choir – which in itself shimmers between Bolero and Björk. In real time, however, the flute tones are chased through effect filters behind which there is artificial intelligence (AI). Creepy? Their artificial neural networks were trained, among other things, with the sounds of machine gun fire. The AI adds its own frightening sounds to the live flute choir. And that’s not all!
“Gorgon” by Marianna Simnett: Are we AI or do we need donuts?
On a canvas we see Gorgon: a hybrid creature in which the artist Marianna Simnett’s face is visually interwoven with elements of a spider, which in turn – popular spider deception maneuver! – pretends to be an ant: by cleverly manipulating the perception of its spider body. These moving images are also AI-created. We are very deep into this uncanny valleythe uncanny valley of the just-no-longer-human.
Marianna Simnett uses her mythical source material in this nomadic project LAS Art Foundation, to ask ourselves questions about our human nature and our future. For example: How do we deal with an AI that simulates human emotions? Or also: What would be the fundamental difference between real and simulated emotions? With all these highly philosophical questions, you shouldn’t forget to snack on donuts every now and then. The brain needs sugar to philosophize. Unless we are all AI already?
Gorgon. HAU 2, Hallesches Ufer 24, September 14th, September 15th, September 16th, 8 p.m., September 17th, 12 p.m., possibly remaining tickets at the box office
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