AI Festival at the Omnibus Theatre Reveals Programme of Wraparound Events

Omnibus Theatre's AI Festival today unveils a series of wraparound events to compliment the previously announced state-of-the-art headline programme. AI Festival is an urgent response to the cultural conversation surrounding the benefits and dangers of rapidly developing Artificial Intelligence and this additional activity aims to encourage audiences to join the discussion.

Opening the festival is Artificially Directing Intelligence: Making work using AI generated text workshop on Monday 26 June, followed by a panel discussion led by Professor Frederic Fol Leymarie on AI and the Creative Process. Acclaimed improvisation group Improbotics will also host an Artificial Intelligence Improvisation Workshop, and a free exhibition by multimedia artist Massimo Magee will run alongside programming for the entire festival from 26 June – 9 July. 

Paloma Jacob-Duvernet, curator of AI Festival said today, “This extra activity happening during the festival is an invitation to push the boundaries of imagination and storytelling as a creative community. The idea of dialogue with the machine will also be present in a vibrant audiovisual digital art exhibition by the artist Massimo Magee. Let the curtains rise on this thrilling two weeks of art, science, and technology.”

AI FESTIVAL

Created and curated by Paloma Jacob-Duvernet

Produced by Alice Eve

In partnership with Omnibus Theatre

 

26 June – 9 July

 

Lighting and Technical Direction by Han Styles

 

Introducing AI Festival: a state-of-the-art season of work starring an electric line-up of humans and robots. Fusing technology and theatre, AI Festival explores how artists can creatively engage with Artificial Intelligence. 

 

Journey from the dark side of digital domesticity with ASSISTED, to a drug-fuelled dystopia in Fisheye, a battle of the minds in Secret Thoughts, to bot-controlled improv comedy in Artificial Intelligence Improvisation. 

 

Two weeks of theatre, comedy, workshops, exhibitions and conversation – log in.

 

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IMPROVISATION WORKSHOP

Presented by Improbotics

Lead by Piotr Mirowski and Boyd Branch

Saturday 8 July

A special workshop introduction to working with artificial intelligence and a robot as a co-performer, led by the internationally recognised Improbotics troupe. Piotr Mirowski and Boyd Branch of the Improbotics troupe will guide participants through developing some ideas for performance, giving an opportunity to practice ideas along with other workshop participants. Their creative ethos is about risk, challenge, and cooperation. Their approach embodies how improvisers take on seemingly impossible tasks, and through their skill and open mind, surprise themselves.

Piotr Mirowski is an improviser, theatre actor and, by day, a research scientist in artificial intelligence and robotics.  He has performed in several hundreds of improv shows and was a member of New York-based improv volunteering charity Cherub Improv (2007-2013), performing in hospitals or nursing homes, London-based short form group Improvable (2013-2016), and artificial intelligence-based improv HumanMachine (2016-present).

ARTIFICIALLY DIRECTING INTELLIGENCE: MAKING WORK USING AI GENERATED TEXT

Lead by Ria Samartzi

Monday 26 June 4pm

A practical session investigating the intersection between artificial intelligence and the art of theatre directing. Led by theatre director Ria Samartzi, this workshop will delve into the world of AI-generated text and explore its potential in theatrical productions. Get ready to challenge the possibilities that emerge when human creativity meets the AI generated material. This workshop is designed for theatre directors, playwrights, actors, dramaturgs, and anyone interested in exploring the possibilities of AI in the creative process.

Ria Samartzi is a UK based director, dramaturg and performance maker from Greece. She looks for strangeness in the familiar and the epic in the everyday. Her background is in movement, developing new work and collaborative practice. She has trained in Physical Theatre at East 15 Acting School, on the Siti Company Conservatory and in the Six Viewpoints theory and practice with Mary Overlie, which she also teaches. She is an associate artist with Foreign Affairs Theatre.

BEYOND THE FIVE GATES

By artist Massimo Magee

26 June – 9 July at various times

Audiovisual Digital Abstraction is a form of art that works across the domains of abstract and visual still image and audio, designed to be read by computers as a unified file. It draws inspiration from abstract expressionist painting and experimental music, creating a new and modern art form. The artwork explores the contrast between human and machine perception, using digital characteristics to create an artificial synaesthesia.

Massimo Magee is a multimedia artist, writer and musician based in Clapham. He is the creator of Audiovisual Digital Abstraction, artworks designed to each be read as both a visual still image and as a piece of audio, these being two readings of the same file. This new form of abstract art for the 21st century is derived from the twin lineages of abstract image making and experimental music. His work was exhibited in CrypTOKYO, Japan's first ever NFT art gallery exhibition in 2021, and he was selected as one of 154 artists worldwide to create pieces for Saatchi Art's first ever NFT art project in 2022. He has been active in experimental and avant-garde music for almost two decades, and records for New York based 577 Records. His experimental, audiovisual novel Variations on an Inexhaustible Theme was published in September 2022 by Eleusinian Press.

AI AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS PANEL DISCUSSION

Lead by Professor Frederic Fol Leymarie

Panelists: Piotr Mirowski, Massimo Magee

Monday 26 June at 7:30pm        

An engaging panel discussion that delves into the fascinating realm where artificial intelligence intersects with the creative process. Led by esteemed experts in the field, including Prof. Frederic Fol Leymarie, Piotr Mirowski, and Massimo Magee, this thought-provoking session will explore how AI might revolutionising the creative process.

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