The night opened with a duet between Mary Ester Carter and A.I. Anne. Mary is a singer songwriter, dancer and actor.   A.I. Anne is an artificial intelligence entity trained on improvisations from jazz to world music. Anne actively listened to Mary and generates new ideas based on what she heard.

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The second movement was a composition by Jason Barnes at the drums, titled Entity. Jason wore a prosthesis that has 2 drum sticks attached. One stick is controlled by Jason and the other stick has artificial intelligence that allows it to hear what Jason plays and improvised off him.

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Jason Barnes (drums) was paired with runner Brian Reynolds, who is double amputee below the knee, who runs on prosthetic running blades made of carbon fiber.  Brian and Jason became a percussive background as Mary and A.I Anne sang. In this segment, A. I Anne’s voice was able to control Jason’s 3rd drum stick.

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The evening built to a crescendo with the addition of heavy metal trained violinist Earl Mannein and Mylez Gittens also on violin.  

The event was made possible by the composer and music technologist Richard Savery, who developed all the technology for this event. 

Moderated by Georgia Frances King.

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Hyphen Hub is proud to have introduced a special preview of Janet Biggs’ new multimedia performance How the Light Gets In this past July. How the Light Gets In explores the relationship between, and intersection of humans and technology through shared creative production. 

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Janet Biggs is a Brooklyn based artist, primarily known for her work in video, photography, and performance.  Biggs’ work navigates the territory between art, science and technology, often involving extreme environments and situations.

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How the Light Gets In features drummer Jason Barnes and marathon runner Brian Reynolds. Jason Barnes lost his right arm in a workplace accident. Since the accident he has been fitted with a robotic arm developed by Gil Weinberg, founding director of the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology. With two drumsticks situated on his robotic arm, one controlled by Barnes and one controlled by Artificial Intelligence which improvises off Barnes’ drumming, Barnes is able to drum faster than what is humanly possible. Brian Reynolds is a record holding marathon runner who also happens to be a double (below-the-knee) amputee. Reynolds is equipped with carbon fiber running legs, or blades, that allow him to run with ease.

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Also featured in the performance is singer/dancer Mary Esther Carter who will be singing alongside A.I. Anne, an Artificial Intelligence, computer generated voice, developed by music technologist Richard Savery, alongside violinists Earl Maneein and Mylez Gittens. Maneein is a heavy-metal violinist who also has performed baroque, bluegrass and jazz music with musicians ranging from Jay-Z through the Strokes. Gittens came to New York from Barbados with an extensive background in jazz and fusion.

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For Janet Biggs’ new performance, she worked with Richard Savery from Georgia Tech to develop sensors that pick up the percussive beats of Brian’s running blades as well as his bio feedback, which act as triggers to control Jason’s bionic arm. How the Light Gets Increates an unforgettable, otherworldly experience that explores the relationship and potential of human and machine collaborations.

 

Hyphen Hub is proud to have had a hand in bringing all of these brilliant artists, musicians, engineers, and athletes together to create such an astounding performance. This performance was a preview of a much larger and immersive experience to be created with the support of Nokia Bell Labs and Georgia Tech, that will be presented at Roulette Intermedia on December 3rd as part of Hyphen Hub’s vision of the future series. 

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Our next version of this event will take place on 3 December at Roulette Intermedium, please find more information here.