We Are Video: One and One Makes Ten

Although We Are Video have only recently moved into their new Haidhausen premises, nothing seems ad-hoc here: a long table, muted colours, pleasant lighting. A huge surface is taken up by their Aurum installation, which was recently showcased at the Gasteig: Step up and make wiping motions with your arms to create colourful streaks and reveal an animated background. Although Kurig and Gasteiger come from the world of theatre, they eventually ventured out into the street to adorn its façades with works that invite passers-by to join in.

We Are Video’s art offers all manner of experiences: it could be a large-scale AI experiment, like the one planned for the Forum der Zukunft (Forum of the Future), where visitors can ask questions about exhibits in real time; or they can immerse themselves in virtual reality to experience the distortions and light curvature of black holes, as in Cosmic Hive at the Pathos Theatre. The pair are currently working on exhibitions about the mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci and about the Titanic. A doctor at the Hauner Children’s Hospital said that she always quizzes children about the video installation they’ve seen there, as it gets them talking and thinking about something other than their illness. Not infrequently are such shifts in perception provoked by the Munich studio’s installations.

While Kurig generally devises the concepts, Gasteiger puts the ideas into practice. We Are Video includes a number of other participants. “There isn’t just one person up there who’s the boss,” says Kurig. “That’s a bit old world for us. We set great store by cooperation rather than competition. One and one doesn’t always have to equal two; cross-fertilisation itself can also result in one and one making ten.”

In their artistic process, the two also make use of AI, a term that they reject as a mere buzzword. Kurig describes it as a “useful servant” who facilitates things that would otherwise only be possible at great cost and effort. He is currently working on an overture film that imitates the style of a 1950s Heimatfilm: “That’s where you rely on something like AI for your research. But our creative input is still key.” The use of imaging AI also brings surprises, such as when the dystopian impression of an apocalyptic city was enhanced by an AI-generated flicker.

Gasteiger compares the process to fine art: “There are tools that take you off track from where you were actually planning to go. That’s kind of like taking a pot of paint, throwing it at the wall and the result turns out to looks great. And then there are finer tools, where you have to know exactly which brush to take to achieve the result you want.” However, says Kurig, the complexity of a built installation is not all that important for its effect: “In the end, it is sometimes the simplest ideas that engage our audience the most. And that’s how we measure the success of our work.”