Backstage Hack: A 6-Month Open Practice Generating "A Fool's Paradise
痴人造梦：一个生成「痴人说梦」的六个月开放实践
This project consists of a “parent work” and a “generated work”:
the long-duration open studio performance Backstage Hack, and the interactive installation A Fool’s Paradise that emerged from it.
In Backstage Hack, the act of creation itself was opened to the public. Visitors could enter, observe, or intervene in the process—encountering a space governed by rules different from everyday social norms. Rather than prescribing participation, the work offered choices: to watch, to act, to speak, or simply to sense. These altered conditions enabled forms of attention, expression, and presence that are often unavailable in ordinary social settings.
The resulting installation, A Fool’s Paradise, is composed of glass cubes and a neural light environment in which audiences engage in spoken dialogue with an AI. Within this staged system, the AI is not the subject but one element among others—part of a broader structure that organizes perception, roles, and interaction. Together, the two works form a nested structure: while encountering an installation about human–machine dialogue, the audience simultaneously becomes part of an ongoing performance about how perception is shaped by rules, visibility, and participation.
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"BackStage Hacker" Laboratory Visitor Experience Guide
Welcome to the "BackStage Hacker" Laboratory, where the space within the mirrors is the dreamscape of our creations. Over the next 3 months, 8 cubic units will gradually appear. The 8 experiencers participating in the dream performance will drive the dream narrative forward and change the light-constructed scenes through vocalization. Currently, units 13 and 19, which have already been fully developed, are present in the space.
Experience Location: At the headsets on the outer white wall of the laboratory, or at the headsets of unit 13 inside the laboratory.
Experience Method: Changes in volume, rhythm, pitch, and duration of sounds will elicit responses in the lighting, altering its color, position, and intensity. Whisper, chant, or shout out loud; imitate sounds from nature, and explore the endless possibilities of voice. Let your vocalizations shape the dreamscape.
Interview
Year: 2021-2022
Collaborator: Jing, An
痴人造梦：一个生成「痴人说梦」的六个月开放实践
This project consists of a “parent work” and a “generated work”:
the long-duration open studio performance Backstage Hack, and the interactive installation A Fool’s Paradise that emerged from it.
In Backstage Hack, the act of creation itself was opened to the public. Visitors could enter, observe, or intervene in the process—encountering a space governed by rules different from everyday social norms. Rather than prescribing participation, the work offered choices: to watch, to act, to speak, or simply to sense. These altered conditions enabled forms of attention, expression, and presence that are often unavailable in ordinary social settings.
The resulting installation, A Fool’s Paradise, is composed of glass cubes and a neural light environment in which audiences engage in spoken dialogue with an AI. Within this staged system, the AI is not the subject but one element among others—part of a broader structure that organizes perception, roles, and interaction. Together, the two works form a nested structure: while encountering an installation about human–machine dialogue, the audience simultaneously becomes part of an ongoing performance about how perception is shaped by rules, visibility, and participation.
-
"BackStage Hacker" Laboratory Visitor Experience Guide
Welcome to the "BackStage Hacker" Laboratory, where the space within the mirrors is the dreamscape of our creations. Over the next 3 months, 8 cubic units will gradually appear. The 8 experiencers participating in the dream performance will drive the dream narrative forward and change the light-constructed scenes through vocalization. Currently, units 13 and 19, which have already been fully developed, are present in the space.
Experience Location: At the headsets on the outer white wall of the laboratory, or at the headsets of unit 13 inside the laboratory.
Experience Method: Changes in volume, rhythm, pitch, and duration of sounds will elicit responses in the lighting, altering its color, position, and intensity. Whisper, chant, or shout out loud; imitate sounds from nature, and explore the endless possibilities of voice. Let your vocalizations shape the dreamscape.
Interview
Year: 2021-2022
Collaborator: Jing, An
2021-2022
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