Kammerwunder (ABO 3) - Music - seems real

Deepfakes with soundtracks

Deepfakes are a highly topical phenomenon of our time. This refers to artificially created media ("synthetic media") in which the voice or appearance of a person is digitally altered. This makes it possible to put words in their mouth that they have never said or to show them in situations that have never happened. Occasionally, deepfakes are used for parody or satire, such as when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears to openly admit how he controls our lives in a video that has gone viral. Mostly, however, deepfakes are used in an attempt to deceive and manipulate on a grand scale. An example of this is the video from early 2022, in which Volodymyr Zelensky appears to call on Ukrainian troops to surrender to Russia.

Our project "Propaganda" explores this clash between technology and politics. Four up-and-coming composers from different backgrounds have written four pieces for chamber ensemble, video and electronics, each in collaboration with media artists from the Master's program "Experimental Film and Media Art" at the Berlin University of the Arts. This gives us four different perspectives on how the deepfake works - and its potential as a new art form in its own right.

With works by
Yuheng Chen/Maya Masuda, Tamara Miller/Nina Fischer, Uri Kochavi/Elisabeth Scholz
and Sina Fallahzadeh/Juyeong Park

ENSEMBLE RECHERCHE
Anja Clift, flute
Eduardo Olloqui, oboe
Shizuyo Oka, clarinet
Klaus Steffes-Holländer, piano
Christian Dierstein, percussion
Adam Woodward, violin
Sofia von Atzingen, viola
Åsa Åkerberg, violoncello
Lukas Nowok, sound direction

A collaboration with the experimental film and media art class at Berlin University of the Arts.

This project is part of a broader project by Ensemble Recherche to initiate a discussion about artificial intelligence and its impact on art and creativity in its 2024/25 season ("What is Real/What is Not").