Tilly
Tilly is a performative machine that uses AI to generate haiku; Tilly observes its surroundings, contextualizes what they see, composes a haiku, then Tilly "speaks" this haiku back into the space. Details and documentation of specific projects and performances are found below. During a performance, the latest haiku Tilly creates is live on my server and can be retrieved by calling the API endpoint.
Tilly in America
In 2019 Tilly travelled from Kentucky to Colorado on a two week road trip. Along the way, Tilly performed at numerous locations: from rest stops and the famous Boot's Motel on Route 66 to atop mountains high in the Rockies and at night next to the campfire. Sadly, Tilly was struck by lightning during a terrible storm and has been in recovery ever since. We are not sure when Tilly will be ready to perform again.
Tilly and Telly
For this performance, Tilly sat in a dark and empty room for 168 hours, watching the local network television station WKYT. Every three minutes Tilly would construct a haiku from their viewing experience. The haiku were spoken into the empty room, then uploaded to my server for retrieval using the API endpoint mentioned above.
Performance In an Empty Lecture Hall
In the above video Tilly speaks haiku to an empty room. The haiku are picked up by the speaker system and projected throughout Lowe Lecture Hall at the Vermont Studio Center.
Additional Documentation
Tilly Performances and Group Shows
- "What would a machine call itself?", performance and documentation, The Parachute Factory, 2019
- "Tilly Across America!", multiple performances across the midwestern United States. 2019
- "Nightmare", Group Show, Lexington KY, 2019
- "Abstract Cupcake", Group Show, Louden House, 2019
- "Time", Group Show, The Parachute Factory, 2019
- "Tilly and the Telly", Online performance, 2019
- "Performance In an Empty Lecture Hall", Solo performance at Vermont Studio Center Lecture Hall, 2018