OPEN MACHINE

***PHOTOS by Greg Kessler or Paula Lobo***

Signaling fall, institutions have leaped into their newest seasons and are back in the production swing. NYU Skirball’s Opening Night hosted the World Premiere of Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener’s Open Machine.

Having met as dancers in the Merce Cunningham Dance company, it is no surprise that the edgy, unpredictable postmodern movement language was ever so present on the stage. Mitchell and Reiner brought the modern age into their postmodern vocabulary where not only were dancers performing, but so was Artificial Intelligence.

When the piece began, audience members were looking at a single file line of dancers in costume pieces of every color and shape. Broadcast above them were three live digital screens mounted to the wall. Upon closer look, an additional wardrobe piece was the slight wiring of microphones. As dancers began to speak, their words emerged on the screens. Not only were the words showing up, but the soundscore also began dancing along, in static shapes and patterns of color and waves.

All at once the audio, visual, and kinesthetic elements became inseparable. The dance flourished the same way a can of soda does when poured into a cold glass. We were treated to a rush of movement all happening at the same time. No matter where your attention carried you, there was a dancer filling the space with texture and flavor. Like bubbles of carbonation, they flitted and flung their bodies throughout the space, -as if encompassing the whole glass. It would be thrilling to see the work over again, taking time to follow each dancer on their divulging paths.

It was fascinating to watch and wonder, where are they taking their cues from? A fewverbal prompts could lead you to believe it was what they were wearing, or what they were seeing, but they were also engaged in various call and response dialogues, even while on opposing sides of the stage.

The initiation of speech, as well as the movement were articulately inarticulate. Specifically untraceable and therefore limitless. AI input forced audiences to ponder ideas surrounding creative generation, and audience perception.

When entering the world of art and performance art, AI is arguably unsuccessful by itself without the inclusion of the human spirit to perceive and connect it. We make art, art. We connect the dots; our connections to ourselves, each other, and the environment we are in, and the experiences that come from these, govern our journeys and decisions, and therefore our art.

When I heard “sparkly shorts” I used my own perception of what that means. I didn’t need AI to cue that. When I heard “Savannah”, the movement description that followed, and my knowledge of Savannah as a name, located her on stage.

Without us, “creative generation” by AI might be meaningless, and Open Machine was a refreshing visualization of this fact, as well as a sweet treat in envisioning the ways that the human mind and artificial intelligence could, instead of stepping all over one

EYE ON THE Arts, NY — Emma Edy Morris

***PHOTOS by Greg Kessler or Paula Lobo***