The most human

Ludvig is a dancer and grew up in the Norwegian town of Nesbyen. Alex is a humanoid, autonomous and self-learning robot as well as a dancer, and he grew up in IDA, the Computer and Informatics Faculty at Linköping University in Sweden. Stockholm-based choreographer, sound artist and P.A.R.T.S. graduate Robin Jonsson gave equal stature to these protagonists in “The most human” – carried by their respective abilities and specifics. Distortion and programme, reduction and complexity are immanent to both. At the same time, they embody character and personality – like, for example, when Alex proceeds to display a certain gait, or in narrations of friendship and cross-species affection.

So, the staging succeeds in taking a look at what might be the meaning of the human factor, of presence and authenticity in the encounter between human and machine. The movements and interactions of both dancers yield a lot more questions, because robots play increasingly important roles in many social fields: In the tertiary sector, in the care sector, in production and heavy industries – here, humans have ceded tasks to machines, or they collaborate closely with them. Who or what is now “the most human” here? The emotions are in turmoil.

Duration: 50 min.

Following the performance: Explain-Bots: What are androids, and when do we consider them to have reached an autonomous state? Where do they learn their humanoid movements, and what kind of technology is required? Following the performance, human explainers mingle with the audience and invite them to take a look under the surface of the machines.