The Cloud

‘The Cloud’ by choreographer and researcher Arkadi Zaides reveals the toxic impact of artificial intelligence in a gripping mix of installation art, theatre and dance.

When transcribed into the digital domain of artificial intelligence, reality continually reconf igures itself beyond recognition. What was once naively seen as a way to document testimonials with clinical accuracy — a reliable representation of the real — is now melting down before our eyes, decaying into an incomprehensible entity that constantly transforms itself: a paranoid machine.

The Cloud is both an investigation into the toxic cloud that the broken reactor at Chernobyl spewed into the air and an investigation into data residing online in the cloud that fuels artificial intelligence. 

What is the singularity of the human body in this improbable yet inevitable clash of two clouds? Where do we locate the body’s inherent fragility and its post-human resilience? Where does the malignant potential for its inevitable deterioration lie, and what has happened to the promise of its post-apocalyptic redemption?

DOCTORAL DEFENCE BY ARKAIDI ZAIDES
NTGent presents this performance on the eve of Arkadi Zaides' doctoral defence, who conducted research at the University of Antwerp into the possible responses of contemporary choreographies to socially urgent problems (19/12, from 10 am, NTGent Minnemeers). External jury members Rabih Mroué and Yumna Masarwa will share their practice with students and the general public during two lectures the day before (18/12, from 10 am, Studio la Geste, Ghent).

Admission to both events is free. All information can be found here.