2026-09-17
Time: to
Location:
Sandbox, Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech
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Tickets: Free Admission
Contact:
Emily Baker
emilyrb@vt.edu
540-231-5200
Accessibility Contact:
Emily Baker
emilyrb@vt.edu
540-231-5200
About the Event
WORMWOOD is an exploration of the limits and possibilities of artificial intelligence in live
dance performance. The work explores the potential of Large Language Models (LLM) in real-time dance observation and analysis, and the poetic and literary interpretations of an AI
witnessing human movement. The piece paints a portrait of a man enthralled to Wormwood, a
digital creature-system that blurs the boundaries of machine, friend, oracle, and parasite.
Immediately following the performance is the panel discussion The Aesthetics, Politics & Performance of Artificial Intelligence, featuring Chelsea Thompto, Matt Wisnioski, Scotty Hardwig, and Zach Duer.
Visitors to the Blacksburg campus Monday - Friday, 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. will need to display a parking permit, utilize the ParkMobile app, pay the daily charge for a pass, or pay for parking using an hourly meter. A range of parking options can be found here.
All campus parking, including along Alumni Mall, requires a parking permit from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., unless otherwise noted by signage.
If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact performingarts@vt.edu at least 10 business days prior to the event.
Scotty Hardwig is a somatic artist and teacher born and currently based in the Appalachian mountains of southwest Virginia whose work blends artistic, scientific and humanistic approaches to the body. His training as a professional dancer and performer has spanned a wide breadth of physical studies and movement philosophies, including kunga and ashtanga yoga, Gyrotonic/Gyrokinesis, capoeira, somatics, contact improvisation, movement meditation, anatomy, and kinesiology. His creative research projects emerge from the confluence of choreographic art and sensorial media, placing the body between the environment and human technology.
Zach Duer is an educator and artist. He is an Associate Professor teaching in the Creative Technologies Program in the School of Visual Arts at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. His work lies at a series of intersections: sound and visualization; careful composition and improvised performance; intuitive musical spontaneity and structured digital systems. Spanning media including fixed-media sound and video collage, improvised multimedia performance, immersive environments, and projection mapped and 3D-printed sculpture, his works have been shown internationally.