Remember Edward Warchoki? The Polish humanoid robot that went viral in April for chasing wild boars through a parking lot in Warsaw? Even late-night comedian John Oliver did a bit on him, calling Warchoki “a pretty canny PR campaign for anthropomorphic robots. All I’m saying is, ‘That is a nice way to get us all used to him before he’s inevitably one day used as a weapon of war.’ ”
Warchoki has not yet turned into a weapon of war — unless you consider being an online influencer a form of digital warfare. As the first robot influencer, Warchoki has his own social media accounts and appeared at Poland’s parliament. Last week he entered the art world when he was among the first visitors to what looks to be a fascinating exhibition, “How to Feel Real. Art, Technology and Us,” at MO Museum in Vilnius, Lithuania. The show is a collaboration of the modern art museum with ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, which specializes in media art.
According to a news release, the show “explores questions that are becoming increasingly urgent in a world shaped by technology: How do we feel real, and what does it mean to be alive?” Apparently Warchoki was there to address the issue head on.
“People keep asking me if I’m real, so when I heard about an exhibition asking what ‘real’ actually means, I thought: Finally, someone is asking the right question. I’m coming to the beautiful Vilnius to see what the artists have to say — and, of course, to check whether they think I’m real,” Warchocki said in the release.
A number of works in the exhibit explore artificial intelligence, automation, “and the ways machines are increasingly taking on roles we once considered distinctly human,” said MO Museum director Milda Ivanauskienė. “Bringing Edward into the museum is a playful extension of this idea, as his deliberately human-like and slightly absurd persona makes the questions raised by the exhibition tangible — inviting us to wonder why we are so eager to find the human in a machine.”
I am intrigued by this last question and wonder about it myself: Why exactly are we so quick to anthropomorphize AI? Every time I’ve interacted with a chatbot I feel the urge to be polite in my dealings, to say “please” and “thank you” when I ask questions. I certainly don’t do that with a Google search. And once, when I saw a delivery robot hopelessly stuck in a pothole, I felt genuinely bad for it. “Poor little guy,” I thought. I imagine if I met Warchoki, I’d react the same way.
I’m glad MO Museum is exploring these impulses by using artist’s thoughts and interpretations as a way to offer answers to an issue that is not going away — but only growing more powerful and omnipresent by the day.
I hope Warchoki 2.0 isn’t used as a future ICE agent, but I also hope we are not at the dawn of the rise of the robot influencer. Warchoki already has his own line of super gross-looking flavored drink concentrates, as well as snacks like an ice cream, chocolate and popcorn popsicle. This is going nowhere good fast.
I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt and I’ve got a pickle-kimchi lollipop to sell you. This is your arts and culture news for the week.
The week ahead: A curated calendar
FRIDAY
Elim Chan conducts the L.A. Phil in 2024.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Elim Chan Conducts the L.A. Phil
It will be a busy couple of weekends in L.A. for the San Francisco Symphony music director-designate. First up is a program featuring Dongshoon Shin’s “Dance Card,” Franz Liszt’s “Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, S. 125” with pianist Yefim Bronfman, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s suite from “Swan Lake.” Next week will be “A Symphonic Ballet,” with Claude Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, L. 86,” Karen Gomyo premiering Samuel Adams’ “Violin Concerto No. 2 (The Wheel),” and Igor Stravinsky’s “Petrushka (1947).”
“Swan Lake,” 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. “Symphonic Ballet,” 8 p.m. Thursday, 2 p.m. Oct. 17-18. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Kuniko Kato Presents Reich90
The North American tour of the Steve Reich Project, conceived and produced by Japanese percussionist Kato arrives downtown in honor of the composer’s 90th birthday.
7:30 p.m. Colburn School, Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. colburnschool.edu
Victoria Marks : A Deer Walks into a Dance
The award-winning choreographer and four performers (Rian Alcid, Maya Billig, Karen Chuang and Aaron Mason) explore the idea connection in a world of division via movement, text and the deconstruction of a (bad) joke.
8 p.m. Friday-Saturday. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd., Westwood. cap.ucla.edu
SATURDAY
L.A. Opera’s new music director, Domingo Hindoyan, conducts a dress rehearsal of “Carmen.”
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Carmen
Los Angeles Opera’s new music director, Venezuelan conductor Domingo Hindoyan, opens the company’s season with a new production of Bizet’s “Carmen.” It stars mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb, who has dazzled in Mozart at L.A. Opera. The Spanish gothic new production is by director/designer Thaddeus Strassberger and choreographer Antonio Najarro. (Mark Swed) The season-opening performance will be broadcast live in high definition, free of charge, at Steinmetz Park in Hacienda Heights and at the Santa Monica Pier.
Through Nov. 7. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. Free simulcast, 6 p.m. Saturday, Santa Monica Pier and Steinmetz Park, 545 S. Stimson Ave., Hacienda Heights. laopera.org
Strauss, Ravel, Beethoven
Music Director Jaime Martín conducts the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in Richard Strauss’ “Metamorphosen,” Maurice Ravel’s “Piano Concerto in G Major” with Conrad Tao, and Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major (Eroica).”
7:30 p.m. Saturday. Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A.; 4 p.m. Sunday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. laco.org
SUNDAY
Dale Brockman Davis, Alonzo Davis and David Hammons.
(Museum Associates)
The Brockman Gallery: Los Angeles,1967-1990
For more than two decades, the Leimert Park gallery, founded by Alonzo and Dale Davis, served as a vital cultural hub, staging exhibitions, festivals, concerts, literary events and more. Named after the brothers’ maternal grandmother, born enslaved, the Brockman Gallery was a flourishing, ongoing act of self-determination in the wake of the 1965 Watts Rebellion. It showcased Black artists whose opportunities were severely limited at mainstream, white-run institutions and galleries: David Hammons, Suzanne Jackson, John Outterbridge, Elizabeth Catlett, Betye Saar, Carrie Mae Weems, Senga Nengudi, Noah Purifoy and many more. More than 60 works by artists associated with the gallery will be included in this first full-scale consideration of the Brockman’s scope and impact. (Leah Ollman)
Through Jan. 24. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd. lacma.org
Pacific Jazz Orchestra: A Tribute to Quincy Jones
Led by Chris Walden, and featuring vocalists Nayanna Holley and Adam ‘Aejaye’ Jackson, the ensemble performs early work by the late producer/composer. Presented by Ventura Music Festival,
3 p.m. Sunday. Rancho Campana Performing Arts Center, 4235 Mar Vista Drive, Camarillo. pacificjazz.org
TUESDAY
Mendelssohn & Brahms
Members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform a program of chamber works from Joseph Haydn, Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms.
8 p.m. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com
Ulysse Marion
A new work by choreographer Dimitri Chamblas, created with former Paris Opera Ballet dancer Marion Barbeau and dancer and musician Ulysse Zangs, explores the journey of a performer throughout a life in art.
8 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday. REDCAT, 631 W. 2nd St., downtown L.A. redcat.org
THURSDAY
At the Very Bottom of A Body Of Water
The latest work by Benjamin Benne, a dramatist many have been keeping close tabs on, continues his collaboration with veteran director (and fellow L.A. native) Juliette Carrillo, and dives even further into magical realism in an unconventional work exploring the oceanic depths that grief can reveal. (Charles McNulty)
Through Nov. 29. Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave. bostoncourtpasadena.org
Judy Baca, detail from the 1960s segment of the Great Wall of Los Angeles mural.
(Judy Baca and the SPARC Archives.)
Skirball Cultural Center
Three new exhibits open: “The 1960s — A Generation on Fire: Judy Baca’s Great Wall of Los Angeles” presents new murals as part of the evolving L.A. landmark; “Patrisse Cullors: Wishes Made Material” features three new works inspired by conversations between Black and Jewish communities; and “Jenny Yurshansky: What We Carry” explores local immigration stories, memories and family history through collected objects.
Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. skirball.org
The SoCal scene
Zoe Ryan, director of UCLA’s Hammer Museum.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
ICYMI, the best of this week’s L.A. Times arts coverage:
The Hammer’s director, Zoe Ryan, is hoping to make the museum the anchor of a Westside Arts District.
Times theater critic Charles McNulty was not taken by Jaclyn Backhaus’ “Wives,” which opened Sunday at East West Players’ David Henry Hwang Theater.
At 80, artist Lita Albuquerque is not slowing down. She has two upcoming shows: one at the Palm Springs Art Museum, and an installation at A–Z West in Joshua Tree.
K-pop star and Blackpink member Rosé will perform at LACMA’s Art+Film Gala as its musical guest.
Advance reservations for the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will go live on Oct. 21 at 9:30 a.m., ahead of its opening on Nov. 13.
Actor Alan Mandell died Tuesday. He was 98.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Alan Mandell, a classical actor and renowned interpreter of playwright Samuel Beckett’s work, died Tuesday at his home in Westwood at the age of 98. McNulty also penned a lovely and personal appreciation of Mandell, whom he felt lucky to have spent time with.
The 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games are around the corner, yet serious questions remain about funding and coordination for the Cultural Olympiad.
L.A. Opera’s new music director, Domingo Hindoyan is stepping up to the podium for the first time in his new role with the opening of “Carmen.”
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Culture News
Climate activists in Tallahassee this week unveiled a statue of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that was created to melt. “In response to the Governor’s recent ‘Don’t say climate change’ action in state law, 350Action (one of the world’s most influential climate change advocates) built quite a visual — a statue that couldn’t withstand Florida’s daily climate. It’s provocative but for a purpose, to encourage young people to vote in a few weeks for candidates that recognize the threat from climate change,” a news release noted of the “climate denial statue.”
And finally, not strictly arts related, but some Halloween fun for you: Street Food Cinema is hosting its annual Boo-ze, Bites and Frights events with some spooky horror film screenings at Heritage Square and the Ford over the next few weekends, including a Saturday showing of “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” which is a film that still genuinely terrifies me.
— Jessica Gelt
And last but not least
Speaking of robots — they are now roaming the aisles of local grocery stores.