ELIZA 2000

interactive performance for two players, USA, 2000


Interactive performance inspired by the "Eliza" computer program, developed by Joseph Weizenbaum in 1966, which gave the user the opportunity to chat with a virtual psychoanalyst.

Seated behind two desks, two performers invite visitors to speak with them one-on-one, seemingly taking on the role of an empathetic therapist. But their questions and answers have a somewhat robotic effect – as if they were playing out a preconceived text. In the end, the evaluation of the data "entered" by the visitors in these discussions comes from the bodies of the automatized therapists. They rise to their feet and perform a choreography reminiscent of poses from fashion photography, exposing excerpts of their programming code inscribed on the skin beneath their clothing.



concept and score: Isabell Spengler

performance: Bennett Jones & Isabell Spengler