ANIMA™

Centre Pompidou / IRCAM / Manifeste 2022

ANIMA™ is an AI-controlled institute, an experimental performance in which a computer unit shapes every interaction and communication. The work of Alexander Schubert / Decoder Ensemble is artistically based on the assumption that the identity and perception of a person is merely a model that can be explored, varied and manipulated. With the concrete application of so-called »Deep Learning«, the fluidity of the human being and the constantly changing world are metaphorically made experienceable. Amidst the AI-driven setting of this VR simulation, performers communicate with a machine, interact with variations of themselves, and immerse themselves in a suggestive world rich in associations. ANIMA™ questions how manipulable our self-image and perception are, showing possible ways to free ourselves from conventions, rules and human conditioning. With ANIMA™, composer Alexander Schubert continues his artistic research on artificial intelligence in collaboration with IRCAM – Centre Pompidou Paris.

Team:
Composition, Concept & Artistic direction: Alexander Schubert
Choreography: Patricia Carolin Mai
Video Design & Programming: Lucas Gutierrez

Light: Diego Muhr

Set: Stefan Britze
Costume: Felina Levits
Ircam electronics: Thomas Goepfer, Dionysios Papanicolaou
Sound distribution: Luca Bagnoli
Scientific collaboration: Ircam-STMS (équipe représentations musicales – ACIDS) (Antoine Caillon & Philippe Esling)
Sound diffusion: Luca Bagnoli
Choreographic practice: Lise Herdam
Text assist: Michael Brailey
Production management: Elisabeth Brunmayr
Production assistant: Mirella Frenzel
Technical coordination: Dennis Nähr
Technical director touring: Cyril Claverie
Performance: Decoder Ensemble (Leopold Hurt, Andrej Koroliov, Carola Schaal, Sonja Lena Schmid, Jonathan Shapiro)
Performers: Guy Marsan & Si-Ying Fung

Commissioned by: Ircam-Centre Pompidou, creation 2022

Photos: (c) Quetin Chevrier and Herve Veronese