All That Is Seen and Unseen, 2025 (in development)

All That Is Seen and Unseen is an interdisciplinary installation opera which investigates the multifarious effects of technology on our collective human consciousness. The work confronts the dangerous erosion of truth and trust in our society that results when we are routinely confronted with ever more convincing digital facsimiles of human experience, unable to tell the difference between reality, fantasy, art, object, avatar or human. Inspired by classical forms (fabricated and manipulated through AI) the piece is a collaboration between human and non-human approaches to creativity, conjuring a phantasmagoria of processed video, music, text and performance.

We have been using AI tools to fabricate ethereal avatars (evoking classical statues) – embodied entities who individually voice sections of the libretto, expressing doubts, fears, confusion, annoyance and joy. Told in the form of stories, proclamations, poems and songs, the libretto, replete with glitches, repetitions and poetic musings, was created using early iterations of AI text generators guided by targeted prompts. Selected phrases were fed back into the algorithm evoking stories and characters – gods, monsters, mythological figures, lost actors or fraudulent tricksters – existing in a kind of spectral theater of the mind.

The current iteration features AI characters embodied by renowned downtown NYC actors (including Scott Shepherd, Jim Fletcher, Lucy Taylor, Saori Tsukada and Tory Vazquez) set against composed music by Zach Layton with singing by a human soprano (Mimi Watkins). In order to actively re-possess these fabricated characters, we used AI tools to meld the performers images and voices with our AI statues, subverting the more predictable behaviors of the computer-generated characters with human qualities, reasserting imperfections, individuality and emotion.

An installation version of this project was on view on Governors Island, summer 2023, as part of Harvestworks’ exhibition The Process. It was also seen at the CURRENTS NEW MEDIA FESTIVAL in summer 2025 in Santa Fe, NM. This new piece is in early development and will ultimately be realized as a multimedia live opera performance. 

All That Is Seen and Unseen is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governors and the New York State Legislature. Additional support comes from the Harvestworks Creative Residency Program and MacDowell.