Performance Acting Faculty Member Cole Lewis Explores Artificial Intelligence in Creative Performance
On June 14th 2024, Performance Acting Faculty Member Cole Lewis presented at the Festival of Live Digital Art (FOLDA) (external link) at Queen's University. Cole participated in a roundtable discussion with artists using Artificial Intelligence in their creative practice, then she did a live demonstration of her AI theatre project 2021 (Co-created by Cole Lewis, Patrick Blenkarn, and Sam Ferguson, first developed in residence at Tarragon Theatre’s Greenhouse Residency).
2021 was developed by Guilty by Association (external link) , an interdisciplinary performance initiative, which Cole currently co-leads with Patrick Blenkarn. From their website, 2021 is described as an “in-development performance about caregiving, death, and the value of human data. With the help of an audience member, a group of artists work together onstage to reenact the final weeks of Patient #203—Cole Lewis’ father—and his quest to find a mechanism to hold on after death. [The project combines] video games, live narration, live music, and AI language models.”
To learn more about Cole’s work you can visit her website (external link) , or the Guilty by Association website (external link) .
Cole speaking during the FOLDA 2024 roundtable, AI in Creative Performance: Real, Live Projects!
Cole onstage during a performance of 2021: Mechanisms to Hold as part of the Tarragon Greenhouse Festival.
Photo by Dahlia Katz, courtesy of Guilty by Association