HOST


This is a surprise party. Accept the invite. Select your preferred settings. Insert an earbud and tune into the life of the party. You are the perfect host.

HOST is a party generated by AI. Performers carry around platters of earpieces, allowing guests to decide whether they’d like to become a host for the AI. Once inserted into the head, the earpieces listen into conversation and deliver real-time instructions into guests’ ears.















Central to HOST are questions around hosting. What does
it mean to be a good host? How do you make someone feel welcome? How can we be together in a charged moment? How does technology insert itself into our consciousness? What are you listening to? What are you serving as host for? What are you holding? The performance was commissioned for The Music Center’s Black Bar Social program.

Photos: Will Tee Yang for The Music Center
Software: Stalgia Grigg
Performers: Chelly Jin, Dorothy Dubrule, Gabriela Ruiz, Gregory Barnett, Miss Barbie-Q, Sean Rowry, Parag K. Mital
Documentation: Gabriel Noguez, Antonio Noguez
Teaser Video: David Leonard
Creative Production: Daniel Soto
Studio Assistance: Wylie Kasai
Special Thanks: Kamal Sinclair, Beata Calinska, Taylor Comen, and the Music Center Team
In collaboration with UCLA Social Software