Company Christoph Winkler: Whispers of Wood – Sophiensæle | Independent Theater in Berlin
Company Christoph Winkler:
Whispers of Wood
Whispers of Wood
Partly in English (Language skills not necessary)
10€/15€/20€/25€
Premiere
„I apologize for the confusion. It seems there was a mix-up and I appreciate your clarification regarding the accuracy of the stories mentioned. It appears there was an inadvertent blending of different motifs and elements from various cultural traditions to create a new narrative.”
A recurring phenomenon in the responses of artificial intelligence models is the free invention of stories and contexts. This process is called hallucination or confabulation. It is the algorithm's attempt to create consistency.
For Whispers of Wood, the chatbot ChatGPT was asked for stories and myths that reflect the relationship between artificial intelligence and bodies. One of the results was a story about a wooden horse from the Yoruba culture in West Africa. Built and brought to life by a craftsman, he loses control of the horse, plunging the world into chaos: a fable about how technology can become uncontrollable.
However, further research revealed that this myth does not even exist as a traditional tale. So is this story untrue? Is it false? Or is it a legitimate attempt to retell existing motifs? Whispers of Wood accepts the algorithm's attempt to create a new narrative and reads it as a metaphor for our relationship to artificial intelligence and its applications. The piece takes up the story of the wooden horse, engages ChatGPT as a co-creator and incorporates its suggestions for the movement language and the staging on an equal footing: a dialog about truth in a technologically dominated world in which we are the questioners.
Concept: Christoph Winkler
By & with: Oluwafemi Israel Adebajo, Ridwan Rasheed, Waris Olanrewaju Rasheed, Tolu Divine Okelowo, Lois Alexander
Dramaturgy, content consulting: ChatGPT
3D artists: Matthias Härtig, Vadim Epstein
Costumes: Miriam Schade
Mask design: Divine Fidelis Onoshiojemanio
Video editing, graphics: Gabriella Fiore
Technical direction: Fabian Eichner
Production: Heleen de Boever
Company management: Laura Biagioni
A production by Company Christoph Winkler in co-production with Sophiensæle. Funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and by the Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Media partners: Missy Magazine, Siegessäule, taz.
Christoph Winkler is one of Germany's most distinguished and versatile choreographers. His work covers a broad spectrum of formats and ranges from very personal to political themes. Under the umbrella of the “Company Christoph Winkler”, he brings together dancers from all over the world to work together as temporary collectives on a wide range of topics. Since 1996, Winkler has created more than 90 dance pieces as a freelance artist. In 2014, he won the German Theater Prize DER FAUST of the German Stage Association in the category “Best Choreography” with Das Wahre Gesicht. In 2016, DER FAUST was once again awarded to one of his productions, when Aloalii Tapu was named “Best Dancer” for the solo Urban Soul Café. Winkler was also the initiator and curator of The Witch Dance Project and the FanFic Festival. In recent years, he has performed several musically inspired productions such as Ernest Berk - The Complete Expressionist, Julius Eastman - Speak Boldly or We Are Going To Mars with great success. In 2020, Christoph Winkler was awarded a George Tabori award and in May 2022 he received the German Dance Award.