Congrats to ITP alum Carrie Sijia Wang, whose work Interview with Two Strangers has been selected as part of this year's IDFA DocLab exhibition and the Digital Storytelling Competition in Amsterdam. Interview with Two Strangers was produced at CultureHub and created in collaboration with nine theater artists, all the age of over 60 and part of New York’s experimental theater scene. Each of them had two conversations: the first, typed with a chatbot programmed to mimic Carrie's conversational style; the second, in person with the artist herself.
What is the essence of a conversation? That question lies at the heart of this video installation, created in collaboration with nine theater artists, all over 60 and part of New York’s experimental theater scene. Each of them had two conversations: the first, typed with a chatbot programmed to mimic artist Carrie Sijia Wang’s conversational style; the second, in person with the artist herself. The two are displayed side by side, one as video and the other as text.
The conversations revolve around the ways we relate to one another as human beings and how we are shaped by the tools we use to do so. These theater artists have lived through several technological revolutions, approaching them with curiosity as well as concern or resistance. By confronting them with an algorithmic conversational partner, Interviews with Two Strangers explores what cannot be simulated or generated. A look at the past with an eye to the future.