A creative convening of artists, thinkers and makers
Join us!
This gathering aims to begin a conversation about how to shake up, challenge and cross-pollinate the art and performance world by connecting cutting-edge thinkers and makers of live theatrical performance with immersive and interactive digital art practices. It will be a showcase for innovation by an international collection of acclaimed artists and scholars, and a chance to share skills, ideas and technical knowledge about the future of technology in performance and installation settings. Our intention is to spark innovation through conversation, play and exchange.
Events will kick off at 4 p.m. (Central) on Friday October 3 and continue through Sunday October 5 at 3 p.m.
Panels and workshops will be held at the Wirtz Center Chicago, located on Northwestern’s downtown Chicago campus.
human-centered digital worlds
The gathering will feature demonstrations of new techniques blending technology and ‘liveness’, and offer an exchange between artists, thinkers and producers working in hybrid live/digital media forms. We will match theater and tech artists to seed future collaborations taking place between live performance and new/immersive technologies.
transforming the role of the audience
New tech presents opportunities for artists to work in what playwright Sarah Ruhl describes as the “Ovidean” dramatic form – stories like Ovid’s Metamorphoses that emphasize transformation over conflict or rational cause and effect. In traditional live theater, stories where gods become plants or humans become birds are rendered through the kind of “magic” of design we have come to associate with live performance. With the advent of new technologies like VR and AR, that experience of transformation can be made even more vivid, taking audiences on a journey into a new time and space as active participants.
Featured Speakers
Join a group of celebrated international artists and scholars
in conversation with more exciting guests to be announced...
Weekend Schedule
Friday, October 3
Human-centered Digital Worlds
5 – 7:30pm: Registration Opens (Main Lobby)
See front of house staff to check in.
5 – 7 pm: Reception and Open Gallery Hours
At your own pace, explore work by Robin McNicholas/Marshmallow Laser Feast (Room 206); Özge Samanci (Room 210); Stephan Moore, along with collaborators Marilène Oliver and Scott Smallwood (Design Studio); Ian Garrett and Jo Cattell (Main Lobby)
*Light Refreshments Provided by Labriola Chicago*
7 – 9 pm: The Dramaturgy of Digital Worlds (Wirtz 203)
7 pm: Presentation by Robin McNicholas, “Sushi trains, Grey Boxes and When to Stop.”
7:45 pm: Discussion with Robin McNicholas, Tanya Palmer (Northwestern University), Stephan Moore (Northwestern University) and Jo Cattell.
Saturday, October 4
Storytelling and Gamification
10 am: Coffee, Bagels and Registration (Upstairs Lobby)
10:30 am: Conversation: Playwriting & AI (Wirtz 203)
Featuring John Muse (University of Chicago), Annie Dorsen, Erin Courtney (Northwestern University), moderated by Seth Bockley
Noon: Conversation: Gaming and Performance (Wirtz 203)
Featuring Heidi Coleman (University of Chicago), Patrick Jagoda (University of Chicago), Chloe Johnston (Lakeforest College), moderated by Phoenix Gonzalez (Northwestern University)
1-3 pm: Open Gallery Hours
At your own pace, explore work by Robin McNicholas/Marshmallow Laser Feast (Room 206); Özge Samanci (Room 210); Stephan Moore, along with collaborators Marilène Oliver and Scott Smallwood (Design Studio); Ian Garrett and Jo Cattell (Main Lobby)
*Light Lunch available provided by Labriola Chicago*
1:30 – 3 pm: (Wirtz 203, Wirtz 212, First Floor Conference Room, Main Lobby)
Grab some lunch and join us in one of four rooms for a facilitated conversation about where artistic and research-based work in the fields of live performance and new technologies are heading, and what opportunities and pitfalls present themselves.
3 – 5 pm: Hands on Workshop: Theater / Technology Collision Challenge (Wirtz 203 and 210)
Led by Ian Garrett (York University), a Toronto-based theatre designer, producer and educator, on creating site-specific mobile experiences using extended reality technologies. An internationally recognized leader in the field, Garrett, through his Mixed Reality performance collective Toasterlab has created and shepherded numerous site-specific, community based immersive experiences and will be sharing some of those tools with our community. Participation is limited to 20 people.
5 – 7 pm: Open Gallery Hours
At your own pace, explore work by Robin McNicholas/Marshmallow Laser Feast (Room 206); Özge Samanci (Room 210); Stephan Moore, along with collaborators Marilène Oliver and Scott Smallwood (Design Studio); Ian Garrett and Jo Cattell (Main Lobby)
7 – 9 pm: Storytelling Frontiers: AI and Beyond (Wirtz 203)
7 pm: Presentation: “The Real Thing and the Fake Thing” presented by Annie Dorsen
7:45 pm: Panel featuring Annie Dorsen, Chloe Johnston (Lake Forest College), John Muse (University of Chicago), Lawrence Birnbaum (Northwestern University), Yingdan Lu (Northwestern University) moderated by Seth Bockley
Sunday, October 5
Presence & Place
10 am: Coffee, Bagels and Fruit (Second Floor Lobby) & Theatre/Technology Collision Challenge Share (Wirtz 203)
11 am: Presentation: “Somewhere in Time: A Common Spectral Cartography; Ghosts, People, Sites, Signals” presented by Ian Garrett (Wirtz 203)
Noon: Conversation: Activating Spaces Using Performance & New Technologies (Wirtz 203)
Brett Swinney (DCASE, City of Chicago), Henry Wishcamper (Bustling Spaces LLC), Jo Cattell, Stephan Moore (Northwestern University), moderated by Seth Roseman (Northwestern University)
1 pm: Lunch Break
(Lunch on your own)
Last chance to experience the installations, and an opportunity to converse with new friends.
1 – 2 pm: Open Gallery Hours
At your own pace, explore work by Robin McNicholas/Marshmallow Laser Feast (Room 206); Özge Samanci (Room 210); Stephan Moore, along with collaborators Marilène Oliver and Scott Smallwood (Design Studio); Ian Garrett and Jo Cattell (Main Lobby)
2 pm: What is the future of Immersive art? What is the future of Live art? (Wirtz 203)
Panel discussion featuring Robin McNicholas, Annie Dorsen, Ian Garrett, moderated by Tanya Palmer (Northwestern University)