Fotomuseum Winterthur | Online Events | Wednesday, 07.04.2021, 19:00–20:00
Screen Walk with Jake Elwes, Zizi & Me
Jake Elwes, Zizi & Me
In this very special Screen Walk, join Jake Elwes and Me The Drag Queen as they walk the audience through the world of deepfake drag in The Zizi Project. The project explores what AI can teach us about drag, and what drag can teach us about AI. Drag challenges gender and explores otherness, while AI is often mystified as a concept and tool and is complicit in reproducing social bias.
In their most recent work The Zizi Show 2020, Elwes and Me present a deepfake drag cabaret, a virtual online stage hosting a groundbreaking new show with a twist. It features acts that have been constructed using deepfake technology, learning how to do drag by watching a diverse group of human performers. The Zizi Show dissects one of the dominant myths about AI, the notion that 'an AI' is a thing we might mistake for a person. The show constructs and then deconstructs a virtual cabaret that pushes the limits of what can be imagined on a digital stage.
In Screen Walks, a series of live-streamed explorations of digital spaces, selected artists and researchers investigate artistic strategies taking place online. The project gives an insight into practices using the screen as a medium. From re-contextualising pictures found on online marketplaces and uncovering data brokers’ invisible circulation of images to analysing in-game photography and the social, political and economic implications of games – Screen Walks examines various approaches, offers a behind-the-scenes look at artists’ work and uncovers new, current and forgotten digital spaces. Screen Walks is a collaboration between The Photographers’ Gallery in London and Fotomuseum Winterthur.
Biographies:
Jake Elwes is an artist living and working in London talking frequently on AI, art and society. His recent works have looked at machine learning and artificial intelligence research, exploring the code, philosophy and ethics behind it. In his art Jake engages with both the history and tropes of fine art and the possibilities and consequences of digital technology.
Me The Drag Queen describes herself as notorious narcissist, glamour clown and professional idiot. Once known around the world as Meth, the drag queen had her rebirth in 2020 as Me. She has performed across Europe and the USA calls London her home. She’s a master of lip sync with an aesthetic best viewed through a pair of sunglasses and is one of the top drag artists the UK has to offer.
Kindly supported by: Pro Helvetia, Swiss Arts Council
In their most recent work The Zizi Show 2020, Elwes and Me present a deepfake drag cabaret, a virtual online stage hosting a groundbreaking new show with a twist. It features acts that have been constructed using deepfake technology, learning how to do drag by watching a diverse group of human performers. The Zizi Show dissects one of the dominant myths about AI, the notion that 'an AI' is a thing we might mistake for a person. The show constructs and then deconstructs a virtual cabaret that pushes the limits of what can be imagined on a digital stage.
In Screen Walks, a series of live-streamed explorations of digital spaces, selected artists and researchers investigate artistic strategies taking place online. The project gives an insight into practices using the screen as a medium. From re-contextualising pictures found on online marketplaces and uncovering data brokers’ invisible circulation of images to analysing in-game photography and the social, political and economic implications of games – Screen Walks examines various approaches, offers a behind-the-scenes look at artists’ work and uncovers new, current and forgotten digital spaces. Screen Walks is a collaboration between The Photographers’ Gallery in London and Fotomuseum Winterthur.
Biographies:
Jake Elwes is an artist living and working in London talking frequently on AI, art and society. His recent works have looked at machine learning and artificial intelligence research, exploring the code, philosophy and ethics behind it. In his art Jake engages with both the history and tropes of fine art and the possibilities and consequences of digital technology.
Me The Drag Queen describes herself as notorious narcissist, glamour clown and professional idiot. Once known around the world as Meth, the drag queen had her rebirth in 2020 as Me. She has performed across Europe and the USA calls London her home. She’s a master of lip sync with an aesthetic best viewed through a pair of sunglasses and is one of the top drag artists the UK has to offer.
Kindly supported by: Pro Helvetia, Swiss Arts Council