A story by Hans Christian Andersen, The Shadow, in which the shadow of a man becomes aware and begins a life of its own, is the starting point and the perfect metaphor for the first theatrical production starring an artificial intelligence: SH4D0W (shadow, in English), by the Danish Mikael Fock. A work that lands this week at the Teatros del Canal in Madrid after having been seen on stages such as the Ars Electronica festival in Linz. Friday will open the third edition of the Canal Connect cycle, which unites art, science and technology through exhibitions, performances, sensory experiences and montages such as Cloud (cloud), by the Swiss choreographer Perrine Valli and her Compagnie Sam-Hester (the names Warhol’s Cats), a show that with 20 children explores the impact of technology on our bodies and lives.
The star of the cycle will in any case be SH4D0W, the name of the leading artificial intelligence, programmed to dream of being more human by collecting data and emotions from humans and the internet. This artificial intelligence that wants to escape its algorithm and humanize itself interacts and talks – every day the show is 70% different – ??with a human actress who wants to get to know herself better. An interaction that is physical for the viewer because the piece takes place in a setting capable of creating illusions of mixed reality, in which artificial intelligence changes shape and seems to even touch its non-digital partner.
Within the same cycle, the Frenchman Cyril Teste will revisit Chekhov’s The Seagull combining cinema and theater. Verdensteatret will arrive from Norway with Trust me tomorrow , a game with light, darkness, the present and memory, and until April 23 the exhibition Máquina orgánica will explore with 20 artists from around the world how at a time when DNA editing or the creation of artificial organs introduces more and more technology into our skin, and the development of artificial intelligence gives more autonomy to machines, the borders of the living are becoming more and more diffuse.
