BACKDOOR ROOMIES

composition/performance for voices, objects, four loudspeakers, speech recognition software and various assistents
21. October 2020 Blurred Edges Festival, FAKTOR Hamburg

In her new solo performance Backdoor Roomies, Steffi Weismann again explores the relationship between human and machine. The conversation with her long-time digital coach Victoria becomes increasingly fragile and leads into a parallel world where various synthetic assistants offer their help. The question arises: Where do I draw the line when my invisible smart roommates interfere in my life more unasked than asked?
As in her performance Calling Victoria (2003), Weismann works with synthetic voices and speech recognition software, but expands the language level with spatially placed sounds from four loudspeakers, interacting performatively with her body and various sound objects.
Backdoor Roomies was part of the concert program Bias Dialogs, curated by Leo Hofmann for the festival Blurred Edges. The evening brought together works by Leo Hofmann, Stefan Karrer and Steffi Weismann that deal with virtual voice assistants: Listening and speaking with machines, they seek new perspectives on sound and communication beyond humans.