In the lecture performance «DIS-AI-DENTIFICATION», Janne Kummer explores digital embodiment as both a battleground and a defense mechanism. Through motion capturing and AI-generated image synthesis, their body extends into a synthetic armor - both a shield and a contested site where control, resistance, and identity are negotiated. At the core of this exploration is language: the act of prompting, the power structures it encodes, and the biases it perpetuates. How does the syntax of a command shape the body it generates? How does the framework of machine learning reproduce social hierarchies? By merging performative self-defense with digital technologies, «DIS-AI-DENTIFICATION» interrogates the politics of representation, exposing the mechanisms through which AI reinforces normativity and strategies of dis-ai-dentifiction.
Janne Kummer (they/them, no pronouns) is a director, performer, media artist and educator, working at the intersection of performing and digital art, game design, music, and critical theory. JK's artistic practice is a continuous exploration of the politics of body representation, disidentification, and the transformative potential of art, both in analog and digital spaces. With a strong focus on the societal and cultural impacts of Artificial Intelligence, their work critically examines how AI shapes power structures and dominant narratives, aiming to imagine alternative realities beyond capitalist logics of exploitation and accumulation. JK's background as a martial artist and active fighter forms the foundation of their performative movement practice. Their creative process is informed by a trauma-sensitive somatic understanding, recognizing the body as a primary source of knowledge and healing.
Team:
Artistic Director / Text / Edit / Image Synthesis / Choreography / Performance : Janne Kummer
Creative Technologist / Motion Capture: Warja Rybakova
Avatar Design : Wro Wrzesińska
Cooperation Partners:
HAU Berlin
Akademie für Digitalität Dortmund
DOCK 11 / Dock Digital Berlin
When?
2 October 2025, 6:45 – 7:15 pm (CET)
3 October 2025, 6:45 – 7:15 pm (CET)
Where?
Immersive Arts Space [1.J30, level 1]
Website:
jannekummer.com
Ticket:
Get your free ticket for one of the two performances here.
REFRESH running from October 2—5, 2025 deals with the intersection of Arts, Design & Technology. Under the theme «Futures of Uncertainties», the sixth edition of the festival – featuring keynotes, exhibitions, masterclasses, screenings and performances – will bring together designers, artists, and researchers from Switzerland and abroad to explore possible futures for design and the arts. REFRESH is primarily devoted to the topics «Algorithmic Entanglements», «Liminal Bodies», «Worldbuilding», «Immersive Journalism», and «Technobiological Futures / New Ecologies». These themes reflect the spirit of the times, questioning the role of creative practitioners in a hyper-connected, data-flotted world.
REFRESH is a collaboration between the Department of Design and the Immersive Arts Space of the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).