Last month, Elon Musk (whose current projects include Hyperloop trains, Tesla electric cars, and Space X missions to Mars) stated it was more likely than not that humans are living in a computer simulation. The argument is that humans are either going to go extinct, or will survive. And if we survive, given advances in virtual reality, the expansion of processing speeds and digital storage, and our taste for simulation games, we must be in a simulation now.
That’s a lot of givens.
Musk’s argument, and the cascade of responses from tech industry heads, speaks to the ongoing love affair humanity has with technology and the possibilities that technology create.
At SpiderWebShow, we are, obviously, head over heels. We are in deep.
In this edition of #CdnCult, SpiderWebShow Co-Creators Sarah Garton Stanley and Michael Wheeler discuss with dramaturg Alison Bowie and technologist Joel Adria the first test of #CdnStudio – our online rehearsal hall designed to connect artists in different cities within one creative space. Choreographer Natalie Gan discusses her relationship to technology, decolonizing practice and the body. And Adrienne Wong examines the performative aspects of the latest digital sensation, Pokémon GO.
What is performance in the digital age? Probably a lot different from what it was even 10 years ago. Would theatre-goers from the world before the use of electric light recognize the form that is pervasive now from 50-seat black box houses to proscenium arch theatre for the multitudes? Probably – but it would be much different than anything they had seen before.
