This Is How Performance Art, Robotics And Electronic Sound Offer A Dialogue On Man And Machine – Forbes

Man and machine have long shared a complex rapport. Yet, understanding our relation to the world and one another largely depends on an insight into the dynamics between humanity and technology. This is especially so as we tentatively navigate the fear and anxiety, wonder and potential of machine science and the information age.

This essentially is the concept behind “No One is an Island”. Instigated by BMW Group Cultural Engagement – the car company’s arm which supports arts and ideas – this ambitions projects brings together contemporary art and dance, electronic sound and new technology in a dynamic performance. It forms a provocative narrative on how current and future generations interact with automated and digitized processes and environments while embracing sustainability. The art piece investigates the human mind’s empathy with artificial intelligence and automated processes.

“No One is an Island” is a collaboration between the celebrated dance choreographer Wayne McGregor and experimental art studios Random International and Superblue while being informed by the BMW i electric-drive technology. In a multi-media format, electrified movements steered by advanced algorithms are explored through a combination of art and sculpture, music and live performance. Pablo Picasso’s light drawings, for instance, inspire the dancers to form lines of light – visually capturing movement and electricity to symbolize the power that runs through the BMW i.

At the center of the performance is the robotic sculpture – all machine and with no human elements. The idea here is to visualize how a minimal amount of information can animate form to be recognized as human, while the most subtle of changes in information can equally have a fundamental impact. The sculpture’s transitions from robot to human likeness are accompanied by interventions from Studio Wayne McGregor. Here, the dancers in turn interact with the kinetics, further exploring the relationship between humans and technology and our capacity to empathize with a machine. All this is performed to the soundscape of Tokyo electronic music artist Chihei Hatakeyama.

“We all come together from different knowledge sets, but convene in areas of shared interest,” says McGregor referring to the various teams who have collaborated on this project, including BMW. “We are all fascinated by the potential of the human body, its relationship with – and to – technology but most importantly our desire to generate empathetic connections between people. This is a dialogue of inter-connectedness, exploration and surprise. We have no pre-determined road map – instead, we feed from one another’s expertise and ideas to push ourselves towards new horizons.”

As a collaborative studio for experimental practice in contemporary art, Random has been investigating this topic for some time. One of the founders and directors Hannes Koch feels it is essential to understand the lesser-known territories of “empathy with machines,” she says. “This work is part of a wider reflection on our human need to relate to our surroundings; how does such a need to connect play out in light of an increasing automation and digitization of our environment? Will our willingness to engage with unknown systems leave us more vulnerable?”

Art may not seem the most natural way to set about understanding such complex issues as our relation to AI and automation, yet as the actor and writer Stephen Fry so nicely puts it, “the secret of life can be found in books and art”.

“No One is an Island” was performed live to a small group as the London lockdowns were temporary lifted during the pandemic. A series of digital and live performances are now planned for 2021. See this link for updates on when this will take place.

See the provocative shortlist for the Rolls-Royce 2021 Dream Commission for moving art; read why brands could benefit from supporting the arts; take a sour of Rolls-Royce’s art commissions of celebrated contemporary artists Refik Anadol, Tomás Saraceno and Rankin.

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