We cordially invite you to the opening of the large exhibition »Exo-Evolution«! The exhibition focuses on the entanglement of art and science and the artistic use of new technologies. With more than 100 positions and the modules »Allah's Automata« and »The Future Is Here«, it provides new perspectives on our origins and future.

Among those to speak at the opening

• Klaus Stapf, Deputy Mayor of the City of Karlsruhe
• Dr. Claudia Rose, Director General at the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts Baden-Württemberg
• Prof. Dr. Siegfried Zielinski, Curator of the Exhibition Module »Allah's Automata«
• Prof. Peter Weibel, CEO of the ZKM and Curator of the Exhibition »Exo-Evolution«

Afterwards: »Inferno« – Interactive robotic performance

Following the opening speeches, the interactive robotic performance »Inferno« by Louis-Philippe Demers and Bill Vorn takes place at the ZKM_Media Theater. Visitors can slip in »robot cases« and take part in it!

The participative robotic performance is inspired by the concept of control and the representation of hell as described in Dante’s »Inferno« (the first part of the »Divine Comedy«) and in the Singaporean Haw Par Villa’s »Ten Courts of Hell« (which is based on a Chinese Buddhist representation). In »Inferno«, »the circles of hell« concept is a framework, a theme under which the different parts of the performance are regrouped.

The specificity of this performance resides in the fact that the different machines involved in the performance are retrofitted on the body of raptured audience members who become performers. A selected group of the audience therefore becomes an active part of the performance, giving a radical instance of immersive and participative experiences. Shifting the exoskeleton’s command from the authors, to the computer, to the audience and to the performers, Inferno questions the nature of control – either mechanic or human, either coerced or voluntary – where either utopian or dystopian futures radiate, both real and fictional.

Supporting program on Saturday, October 31, 2015

2 pm	Artist Talks Artists of the exhibition talk about their artworks
5 pm	Inferno Participative robotic performance max. number of participants: 36 persons – registration at fuehrungen@zkm.de

Organization / Institution

ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie