Join us live at the gallery for an evening of performance as artists Jake Elwes and Me the Drag Queen utilise Artificial Intelligence and real-life drag to present a unique performance about queerness, cabaret and technology as part of Among the Machines at the Zabludowicz Collection. The artists have invited other performers to collaborate as they probe and foreground what it means to queer the dataset.

This live performance is part of the Zizi Project (2019 - ongoing), a collection of works by media artist Jake Elwes exploring the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and drag performance. Drag challenges gender and explores otherness, while A.I. is often mystified as a concept and tool and is complicit in reproducing social bias. Zizi combines these themes through a deepfake, synthesised drag identity created using machine learning. The project explores what A.I. can teach us about drag and what drag can teach us about A.I.

This event is FREE, booking recommended.

Jake Elwes

Jake Elwes is a media artist living and working in London. They studied at The Slade School of Fine Art, UCL (2013-17). Recent works explore their research into machine learning and artificial intelligence. Their practice looks for poetry and narrative in the success and failures of these systems, while also investigating and questioning the code and ethics behind them. Their current works in the Zizi Project explore AI bias by queering datasets with drag performers which simultaneously demystify and subvert AI systems.

Me the Drag Queen

This is Me...Notorious Narcissist. Glamour Clown. Professional Idiot.

Once known across the world as Meth, 2020 saw the rebirth of this ridiculous drag queen as Me. She’s performed across Europe (Berlin, Helsinki, Reykjavik, Stockholm, Zagreb) and America (New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Austin, LA) and calls London her home. A master of lip sync with an aesthetic best viewed through a pair of sunglasses, Me is one of the top Drag artists the UK has to offer.

By taking part in this event, you are consenting to be filmed, and your image and actions may be included in the video documentation.

Image credit: Jake Elwes, The Zizi Show 2020, montage of deepfake drag artists. Courtesy the artist.