(_______) voices
Dec 2024
Co-created with Manjari Kaul
An immersive experience exploring human and machine voices in the context of datasets and AI.
(________) voices is an immersive experience based on artistic research around human and machine voices through the lens of perfection in a capitalist economy, in the context of datasets and artificial intelligence.
Through intimate, personal stories by the performers about their own voice and memories associated with it, as well as an interactive section where audiences interacted with a real-time clone of their own voice, this experience encouraged audiences to not perceive human and machine voices in opposition to each other but navigate their (dis)similarities to create space for community and solidarities.
Artists Gaurav Singh Nijjer and Manjari Kaul undertook a 2-month residency that explored embodied, technological and ethnographic perspectives of human-machine voices as part of the BODIES-MACHINES-PUBLICS program at Khoj International Artist Association in New Delhi, India.
As part of the research, the artist also hosted 'WHOSE VOICE IS IT ANYWAY?'—a public workshop that invited creative practitioners interested in the growing presence of machine-generated voices and tools such as text-to-speech (TTS), voice cloning, and generative audio in contemporary life. The participants engaged in embodied exercises, explore voice-related tools and software, participate in creative devising activities, and critically reflect on their relationship with AI technologies through play, creation, and performance.
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I have been interested in the interplay between human and machine voices for a few years now, especially given the advancements in text-to-speech (TTS) and voice cloning technologies that pose both a risk and an opportunity for artists. I have tried integrate these technologies in live performances, such as generating voiceovers to represent online hate speech and disinformation by anonymous troll accounts and creating real-time deepfake videos of audiences for the performance 'Mining Hate' by my collective Kaivalya Plays as well as using machine-generated voiceovers in other projects. These machines are trying to sound more and more human, and that was at the crux of our 2-month residency which I undertook alongside artist Manjari Kaul. Together we looked at many aspects surrounding the human-machine voices – ideas around perfection and imperfection of the voice, underlying bias in AI towards Western voices and accents, outdated labels and classification of voices, disinformation and hate speech campaigns, and a growing capitalistic trend towards replication and mass production of creative output (especially using artificial intelligence technologies) – and created an immersive, interactive experience for four audience members at a time where they got a chance to hear mine and Manjari's personal journey with our voice as well as talk to a clone of their own voices in real-time. This project, along with others, builds upon my work in exploring the creative integration and impact of AI on live performance, especially theatre, and how we artists might embrace this technology as a collaborator.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the support and contribution of the following to this artistic research:
Workshop #1 participants: Katyayini Pant, Yusra Naqvi, Zahra, Pakhi Sinha, Sumedha Bhattacharrya, Priiya.
Workshop #2 participants: Meet Naran, Ankur Sardana, Altaf Hussain, Mahek Arora, Joel James Edwards, Ojas Saxena, Yogeshwari, Jahnabi Mitra, Debarati, Rajat Rawat, Gaytri, Sharmishtha Mallick, Nidhi Bansal, Jai Mahajan, Rehmat Kang, Siddhant Yadav and others.
Technical consultation: Hasan Shahrukh, Denny George, Manas Bhardwaj
Our fellow artists in residence: Yessika Durate, Puneet Jain, Daniella Brugger
The Khoj team: Pancham Kerketta, Govind Bhandari, Suresh Pandey, V.P. Manoj, Rajesh Gupta, Isha Bhattacharya, Gulmehar Dhillon, Ruchika Dhillon and others
BODIES-MACHINES-PUBLICS is a two-year-long collaborative initiative between NAVE (Chile), Khoj International Artists’ Association (India), Immersive Arts Space/ZHdK (Zurich, Switzerland), and Kornhausforum (Bern, Switzerland), and is supported by the Swiss Art Council Pro Helvetia.
Artist Bios
Manjari Kaul (she/ they) is a queer feminist performer, director and Theatre facilitator based in Delhi. They hold a Master’s degree from The School of Arts & Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University and are a graduate of The DUENDE School of Ensemble Physical Theatre. Some of their recent work includes “Firefly Women”, (for Genderalities 2.0 and Frankfurt MOVES!) a movement piece based on letters written from jail by three women charged under a draconian law and “अगड़म बगड़म”, a Digital theatre production (for ThinkArts Grant 2022) about differences and belonging. Gender, sexuality and memory expressed through a personally political lens are leitmotifs in Manjari’s work. Their area of investigation lies in anti-oppressive, experimental, movement based work.
Gaurav Singh Nijjer (he/him, b. 1994, New Delhi) is an Indian theatre-maker, creative technologist and multidisciplinary designer who creates hybrid, interactive and multilingual performances using technology and media. He is one-half of the Indian theatre collective Kaivalya Plays and also collaborates with arts collectives in India, the United Kingdom and Europe. He was a German Chancellor Fellow of the Humboldt Foundation, researching hybrid and alternative performance formats as well as undertaking independent research around artificial intelligence technologies in live performance. His performance pieces often brings ‘live’ tech, creative coding, live camera and video mapping, artificial intelligence, APIs, automations and other digital techniques and media onto the stage. Gaurav studied at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, receiving the coveted Chevening scholarship. He has previously received artistic grants and commissions from Goethe Institut India, Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (IFA), Moleskine Foundation, Parivartan Arts Research Grant, MediaFutures, Schaubude Theatre, BeFantastic India, amongst others. His recent artistic works include I, JOSEF (2024), The Pillowman (2024), ABSURDO (2023), Mining Hate (2023), Climateprov (2023) and Lifeline 99 99 (2021).
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