For two years, I've been writing a play about the theme of "monster-robot-human" called "Justine and William." Here are a few key ideas:
Leb!
Tote Materie!
Leb!
Sei mir gleich!
Dass zum Zwecke…
Beweg dich, denke, fühle!
Sagt der Mensch
Zur Maschine
Leb Mensch!
Warten verboten!
Du bist vergänglich!
Sagt das Sprechwerkzeug
Der zum Leben erwachten
unsterblichen Maschine
Zum Menschen
The concept of the piece is based on a personification of AI with superhuman mass (height = 350 cm) as a head marionette on stage, played by a puppeteer (in collaboration with the Bochum Puppet Theater College). (See design drawings of the front and side with masses). The AI skull can also take on other characters, such as the head of a monster. The premiere of the piece has not yet been determined.
The picture shown is a 1:10 scale model, i.e., 25 x 35 x 35 cm, made of thick yellow electrical wire. (A model made of aluminum rods, scale 1.5, is also being made, and technical tests are currently being conducted on it.)
The wire frame is equipped with an LED light chain. The battery is visible in the back of the head.
The smallest cable ties were used to secure the wire crossings, which here take on a kind of antenna character.
The wire skull was used at Christmas 2023 to convey Christmas messages on social media (see Instagram @natarajall), and the Christmas balls were a spontaneous idea, but they performed their task admirably. An electrical device on the ceiling (a disco ball motor) causes the skull to rotate slowly, creating a hollow-face illusion due to the transparency of the wire figure and the all-round effect of the balls. The Christmas balls also convey a bit of nostalgia for when the "Cantonale" was still called the "Christmas Exhibition."
Installation: The wire skull is suspended from the ceiling in a dark room (approximately 6x6m) in the middle of the room, suspended from the rotating device, so that it hangs at the viewer's eye level (approximately 1.5m).
The slow rotations allow the viewer to view the wire figure from every angle, creating the "street snooping" effect (hollow face illusion).
Symbolism: Everything revolves around AI...
