Auslander's robot

Abstract

AbstractIn a challenge to our notions of what constitutes live performance, Philip Auslander illustrates his discussion through the technology of the ‘chatterbot’. Auslander intimates that the ontological origin of the performer is not of primary importance when deciding whether or not a performance can be considered ‘live.’ To explore this crisis, I propose that we imagine a hypothetical machine, a theoretical construct inspired by Auslander's suggestion that machines are capable of live performance; this machine, ‘Auslander's Robot,’ can be built to demonstrate the theories that Auslander has outlined in his work on performance, presence, resistance, liveness, and the postmodern body. Such a construct may give us a deeper understanding of these theories and a deeper understanding of the nature of live performance. In each of these instances, we find that a distinction must be made regarding such terms when used in a technological context against a cultural context; sometimes these categories intersect. ...