Year: 2023
Medium: multimedia installation
Improvisation 1.0: Re-Figure is an improvisation system and installation using ludic approaches and machine learning technologies to create an experience of uncertainty and unease while raising the question: how can we rethink the Anthropocene?
The work invites the visitors to move a piece of egg-shaped chalk on a board full of words and symbols to write stories together with a system which they don’t fully understand. Through listening and engaging, stories unfold, and traces are left. Improvisation 1.0: Re-Figure explores my evolving methodology of Critical Feminist Improvisation (CFI), which attempts to enact the cultural shift from human-centred exceptionalism towards a more-than-human world.
The project incorporates three key conceptual elements: a generative system, the interaction of a board and object, and storytelling through audio. The generative system aims to engage a broad audience in contemplating complex ideas, using participant interaction and openness to mirror the principles of CFI, particularly improvisation. The board and object interaction invite participants to physically engage, embodying active efforts in the ethical task of humans. Stories generated by the system ground abstract concepts, communicated through audio to encourage attentive listening, echoing CFI's principles of holding space and embracing uncertainty.
The system also addresses tensions and responsiveness, introducing zones of uncertainty and non-functionality to provoke reflection and negotiation, aligning with CFI's principles of acknowledging tensions and being responsive and vulnerable. Materiality considerations led to the choice of an egg-shaped chalk, symbolically rich yet conceptually subtle. The board design, balancing technical constraints with intrigue, incorporates visual cues and abstract elements to invite exploration and interpretation. Real-time text feedback compensates for technical limitations, while instructions prompt participants to leave physical traces on the board, emphasising embodiment and engagement.