Mouja: Experiencing AI through Magnetic Interactions
Nicola Privato · 2024
Mouja, or the Magnetic Ouja, is a performance combining real-time neural synthesis with two specifically designed instrument-scores. Because of the inherent arbitrariness and entanglement in the distribution of the sound features in the latent space, with neural synthesis models such as RAVE gesture, interface and sound appear as deeply intertwined, and the development of dedicated, embedded interfaces becomes critical to their understanding and exploration. Thales and Stacco provide an effective and poetic way of playing with and understanding latent dimensions in RAVE. They consist of two tangible interfaces based on permanent magnets, and through the interactions of their magnetic fields they engage the performer in a tactile dance of agencies, where the entanglements of the algorithm are experienced through a dynamic and embodied process of negotiation with the magnetic agency of the instrument-score.