New York, NY

¡Harken!

An immersive reimagining of the fragmented history of Juan Rodriguez, New York’s first immigrant, where his ghost enlists ChatGPT, audience prompts, and generative AI to rewrite his colonizer-distorted story in real time.

¡Harken! Immersive Event - Main Image

¡Harken! is a transfiguration of the flawed and fragmented pieces of his­to­ry written about Juan Rodriguez, a mixed-race Atlantic Creole who arrived in 1613 from Santo Domingo as a fur trader for the Dutch. In ¡Harken! Juan Rodriguez’s ghost, wanting desperately to be a real person, asks ChatGPT to tell him more about his life. The AI responds with hallucinations and distortions based on secondhand accounts written by colonizers and accepted as “history.” Using generative AI, audience prompts, face-swapping, and image generation, ¡Harken! Audiences help Rodriguez re-write his story by ‘feeding’ the AI new information, generating new images and landscapes.

Audience Role

Audience can contribute prompts.

Ages: 13 +

Content Advisories

No sexual content
Themes around colonization
Use of generative ai

Interaction Advisories

No physical contact with performers

Mobility Advisories

Event is wheelchair accessible
No mobility advisories
Wheelchair accessible

Tags

Chatgpt
Colonization
History

About Under the Radar Festival

UNDER THE RADAR (RADAR) is a festival celebrating new theater and performance works from both around the world and down the street. Taking place in New York City from January 5 – 21, 2024. Produced and programmed by thirteen different venues in collaboration with RADAR. Under the Radar 2024 addresses a city, a country, and the world with the voices of innovative multidisciplinary artists speaking to their time. The festival stands for transparency, equity, and equal collaboration in the development of new live works. It represents global citizenship, innovation, and a platform for those whose voices have yet to be heard.