Humans invented computing machines to use them as tools. However, these tools have developed to such an extent that, what not long ago was thought to be unimaginable, for example, computational generated texts or machines creating new machines, is now common-place.

The conference Non-machines: Playground of Perspectives reflects this situation which is fast becoming a new normal. By “non-machines” we mean human and non-human actors or tools that are not yet integrated into a machine network, such as a creature evolving freely in nature, or a human not connected to digital networks.

The conference invites us to rethink the relations between machines and non-machines, using a change of perspective: from one which sees the relationship between machines and non-machines as competing powers, to a more equitable and non-competing relationship among all entities.

In this talk, Shuntaro Yoshida & Alex Viteri discuss the choreographic practices of Mapped to the Closest Address (MaCA). This time, the artists will focus on the dramaturgical strategies of “Turn Off the House Lights (ToHL),” MaCA’s atmospheric lecture performance (2022). In ToHL, they aimed to translate landscapes from two-dimensional detached views into sensual aesthetic experiences, highlighting the interplay between human and non-human choreographies. Reflecting on the discoveries made during the collaborative journey with artists, scientists, and local communities, this performance lecture explores how the live narration of TOtHL makes the stories of Yoshida's and Viteri's artistic research visible, engaging their guests in sensuous experiences of real, imagined, and imaginations-of-real landscapes. Through the lens of “bewilderment” (Halberstam, 2020), the disobedient movements of earth in modernized society will be investigated.

When? Where?
22 July 2023 (2nd conference day)
Bauhaus University Weimar
Steubenstraße 6
99423 Weimar

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