Open Lab: Christopher Knowlton | Deus Ex Machina Doctrina

Open Labs offer a flexible platform for artists to share, test ideas, and develop perspective on their work through community exchange.

Doors at 4:00PM
Performance at 4:30PM
Interaction with Artist: 5:00PM
Art/Tech Exchange: 6:00PM

Deus Ex Machina Doctrina, is an interactive installation and performance exploring the intersection of dance, artificial intelligence (AI), religion, and the deification of new technologies. As part of Christopher Knowlton’s residency with HCL, this in-progress work delves into the implications of AI for dance and questions the extractive nature of generative AI. The piece features AI-generated video, text, music, choreography, and immersive interactive projections.

By referencing Latin phrases for “god from machine” and “machine learning”, Christopher is acknowledging a long history of technology worship and the expectation that technology will solve problems that we ourselves cannot. This work also questions the relationship between a codification of beliefs (i.e. a doctrine) and a “codeification of beliefs”.

After the performance, audience members are invited to explore the visual projections and engage in conversation with Christopher about the technology behind the piece.

For those curious to dive deeper, stick around for a hands-on choreographic coding lab and tech jam immediately following the installation. Learn, experiment, connect, exchange ideas and share resources as Christopher explores the technical tools behind AI and dance. If coding or technology is part of your practice, feel free to bring a laptop!

About the Artist

Christopher Knowlton, Ph.D., is a queer transdisciplinary movement artist and research scientist who uses emerging technologies to create augmented performance work. Based in Chicago, he has created many solo and collaborative dance works that have been featured locally and internationally, spanning dance, film, new media, puppetry and storytelling. Chris was a Chicago Dancemakers Forum 2020 Lab Artist, a 2022 Ragdale in Schools Fellow, a 2023 Chicago Cultural Center Dance Studio Resident Artist, a Winter 2023 Banff Centre Dance Artist in Residence, 2024 Supported Residency at WOWArtSci in Taos, NM, and is currently a 2024 Artist in Residence at High Concept Labs in Chicago.

For more information about the artist, visit https://www.chrisknowltondance.com/

RSVP here: https://highconceptlabs.org/events/open-lab-christopher-knowlton-deus-ex-machina-doctrina

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