Visiting Assistant Arts Professor Katherine Fisher's collaborative theater project "(Machine) Learning to Be: Performance Development Residency & Presentation" recently received the Solomon Award through Brown Univeristy. Fisher serves as the Associate Director and Choreographer of this project. The Solomon Award is geared to support excellence in scholarly work by providing funding for selected faculty research projects deemed to be of exceptional merit.
"(Machine) Learning to Be" is a participatory, devised, hybrid multimedia performance that interweaves AI systems with theatrical conventions, choreographed movement, and experimental exploration of machine learning. Rooted in visions of decolonial AI, the performance aims to challenge existing structures of control and envision more equitable futures alongside AI technology. Part of the Data Fluencies Theatre Project, this interdisciplinary initiative involves artists, researchers, and creative technologists from diverse backgrounds, including two Brown faculty members. The project’s hybrid format, combining in-person and online elements, not only expands accessibility but also transforms the internet into a platform for both performance and critical investigation. Alongside a custom-based online venue, the performance features an interactive choreographic interface that aims to engage AI as embodiment technologies and an AI character that aims to convey the multifaceted nature of AI, its dangers and possibilities. Additionally, the project seeks to engage students through data fluencies play workshops, thereby fostering an inclusive environment that encourages critical reflection on the implications of technological advancement. The funding from the Salomon Faculty Research Award will support a residency for (Machine) Learning to Be that will culminate in two campus performances and one data fluencies play workshop.