Annie Dorsen, Hello Hi There
Hello Hi There uses the famous television debate between the philosopher Michel Foucault and linguist/activist Noam Chomsky from the Seventies as inspiration and material for a dialogue between two custom-designed chatbots: every evening, these computer programs, designed to mimic human conversations, perform a new – as it were, improvised – live text.
Can you call it a play when two Macbooks are the actors? This unusual performance by NY-based director Annie Dorsen illustrates the extent to which a human can be replaced by a computer. The machines debate human nature and the various facets of human intelligence in a conversation based on the famous discussion from the 1970s between Micheal Foucault and Noam Chomksy. Dorsen uses this material, along with additional text culled from YouTube, the Bible, Shakespeare, the big hits of western philosophy and other sources, to construct computer programs which create a new, “improvised,” dialogue. What does humanism, and the belief in human virtuosity, mean when machines and artificial intelligence are able to so easily outdo us? Can something worthwhile come out of the reflections of two computers? Hello Hi There is an intelligent, sometimes scary, creative and humorous dialogue about humanity in the age of its digital reproduction.
ArtisticTeam
Concept and Direction: Annie Dorsen
Production design: Kate Howard
Systems design: Jeff Gray
Scenography and Lighting design: Edward Pierce
Chatbot software design: Robby Garner
Consultation: Nicolas Siepen and Berno Odo Polzer
Assistance: Stephen Brackett
Technical Direction: Ruth Waldeayer
Technical Supervision: Ryan Holsopple
Production & Management: Natasha Katerinopoulos
Co-Producers and Funders
Hello Hi There is a co-production of steirischer herbst (Graz), Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin), BIT Teatergarasjen (Bergen), Black Box Teater (Oslo), and PS122 (NYC), and was developed in part at Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (Troy, NY).
The SNF Nostos ID is required for this event. Admission on a first-come-first-served basis.
Event opens at 18:00.
Maximum number of participants:237
Details of the program are likely to change in accordance with the latest COVID-19 health measures.