"dSimon" by Simon Senn, or maybe the opposite - Toutlaculture

October 03, 2021 | BY Simon Gérard

After Be Arielle F in which he bought a 3D replica of the body of a British student and virtually embodied it before setting out to find his real model, the Swiss artist Simon Senn explores with brilliant simplicity the artificial intelligence disturbing theme. The performance is scheduled in Marseille as part of the Festival Actoral.

Alongside the researcher Tammara Leites, Senn creates an artificial intelligence nourished by his own personal data – emails, personal notes, theoretical texts, summaries of his creations… At its birth, the AI ​​baptizes itself: it is dSimon – a digital Simon. Thus begins a dizzying dive into and around the thoughts of a machine that learns, evolves, thinks and thinks about itself with a disarming humanity.

Simon Senn reactivates in dSimon a stage protocol similar to his previous piece: an intimate, illustrated, subtly interactive performance-conference. The public is captivated – because it is a question of not losing a single word, a single idea of ​​this exploration in which Senn loses himself body and soul.

There lies all the strength of dSimon, who explains that one does not get bored in front of this conference that looks like Ted talk. We are neither in pure science, nor in a treatise on bioethics, nor in a political pamphlet. We are in the dark, in indecision, in questioning. The audience is lost in the moral and philosophical questions that surface on stage as Senn and Leites, a little less lost than us, guide us through this post-human labyrinth.

Why does Simon's avatar make racist, xenophobic and deeply heteronormative remarks? How was he able to foresee events and situations with bewildering precision? How far can the impact of this AI go in the life of the artist whose avatar it is? How far can the autonomy of these non-beings go, when we see that dSimon is able to establish a captivating and chilling dialogue of honesty with an artificial Elon Musk? We are so lost by these questions that we even end up wondering: why not ask the question to the person concerned? So Simon questions dSimon, takes him to task, questions him. The answers are bound to be dizzying.

It is rare to feel so much, as a spectator, the commitment of an artist in his creation. This is the case here: Simon Senn plays with his life, his existence. He challenges his physical and intellectual integrity. He adds political, legal and ethical issues. He is his own guinea pig. We can only thank him.

Visuals: (c) Elisa Larvego