Alliance of International Production Houses

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.

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 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

Producey by Decoder Ensemble, Co-produced by: Ircam- Centre Pompidou Paris
Supported by Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Elbkulturfonds of the Hamburg Ministry for Culture and Media, Impuls neue Musik, Hamburgische Kulturstiftung, Goethe Institute Paris, Rudolf Augstein Foundation and LICHTHOF Foundation, with the support of the ULYSSES network.