Shadows of the Mind (2000)

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An acoustic live-interaction with MINDACTOR, an avatar.
Inspired by a text by Milan Knizak.
 
A fictitious performance, an action never realised - written 1968 in Vienna in the prison - is interpreted by a virtual person. A text-to-speech robot performs this text which consists of questions only in a musical manner: reciting, singing, de-familiarising it. Historical sounds, sampled from media material round 1968, complement the narration.

During the live broadcast listeners could connect themselves with the avatar via chat. A text-to-speech module interpreted their discussion live on air. Thus every listener had the chance to become co-author, co-sound designer and co-performer of the broadcast.

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An Action For My Mind, (Vienna in Prison) 1968, by Milan Knizak
Do I exist? Who am I? Am I good? How many hands do I have? Am I the Buddha? What do I want? Do I believe in God? Do I believe in anything? In someone? Could I kill? Have I killed? Is it possible to kill the soul? What does the soul look like? Does communism make any sense? Who is my enemy? Do I love animals? Am I the master of my own brain? Do I know the way to the promised land? What is the promised land? Whom should I thank? What is justice? Why do dreams resemble reality so little? Do I love my dog? Do I have the right to own something? Do I have the right to decide upon anything? What are Sodom and Gomorrah? What is exhibitionism? Do I love Lenin? Why doesn`t the world belong to me? Is a bird my friend? Could I make love to a dandelion? Is James Bond my ideal? Are you my ideal? Is Hitler my ideal? Who are you? Can someone born in a stable be god? Do you love Jan Huss? Did Marx know how to play marbles? Could I make love to my long hair? Is yoga something like masturbation? Is masturbation something like faith in dreams? Is it beautiful to loose your own gravity? Is abortion a funeral? Am I handsomer than others? Is my hand worth as much as yours? How much is your hand worth? How much is your stomach worth? Does your stomach have wings? Is prostitution the science of hygiene? When will yourise from the dead? What`s your name? When were you born? Is it good to be a fish? Is it beautiful to be a fish? Is it useful to be a fish? Are associations dangerous? Will my death change anything? Will your death change anything? Did my birth change anything? Where does the infinite end? Where does the infinite begin? Can an egg sing? Is the flight of a butterfly music? Does the quantum theory influence the length of my life? Is it possible not to go mad before death? Is it possible not to kill in a war? Is it difficult to be a messiah? Is It possible to kill the same person twice? Is it possible to manufacture love? Is it possible to put a price on death? Is it possible to manufacture joy? Is it possible to put disappointment in cans? What is pividenkuml? What is the difference between me and my shadow? What should the label on a can of three caresses be like? Who does heaven resemble? Is my cat God? Is dance of molecules esthetic? In what way does your body differ from an altar? Are you more than the earth? Are you less than the earth? In what way does bith not differ from death? Is Moscow far away? Would Van Gogh have been my friend? Can my eye swim in your eye? Why can`t I write new Bible? Can feelings be materialized? Is it possible to forget absolutely? Are red clothes beautiful? Can I have a body of lace? Do I have the right to hate? Why do I love the apostles? Does anything resemble your unspoken words? Is not that which hides behind the surface of your glances the universe? Am I the universe? Where are true names of things hidden? How is a quadratic equation solved? Are you afraid of silence? Are the rays that fall from a July sky on a summer evening cheaper than the rays that fountain forth from blinding white snow on January morning? Do you like your name? Do you like my name? To whom do I belong? Who has the right to decide about me? Who confers such a right? Where do dreams blossom? Where do drams not wilt? In which sea do only golden fish swim? Who do the stars belong to? In what places on the earth is happiness concentrated? Is it beautiful to die?