xkeyscore (2019)
performed at BUSHWICK OPEN STUDIOS
in collaboration with robert fleitz
based on jeremy bentham’s hypothetical prison called the panopticon, michel foucault develops a theory of control that is based on self-censorship and horizontal discipline by proxy of conformity. xkeyscore is a game piece that attempts to trace how mediated culture and computation might contribute to this disciplinary feedback loop.
four dancers are tasked to come up with a four-part choreographic phrase based on pop-culture artifacts displayed on their respective monitors, while a centralized algorithm provides obstacles that prevent the performers from doing this very task. despite the ubiquitous forms of computational surveillance forms, is there still an opportunity to cooperate with both digital culture and fleshy bodies to create something relational, intimate, beautiful?
you can see an excerpt of the piece here: