• Threads of Assumption: the Biases You Weave

    Participant Sign-Up Form
    Threads of Assumption: the Biases You Weave

  • ABOUT THE PROJECT 
    Threads of Assumption: the Biases You Weave is a multidisciplinary exploration of the impact gender-based harm has on one’s health, professional trajectory, and interpersonal relationships. The work will be created from real stories, gathered on a virtual, anonymous conversation platform and transformed into datasets by emotionally-sentient artificial intelligence (AI). The AI will map emotional responses and collect and assess keywords presented in the conversations to find patterns within the stories. The data will then be translated into a performance installation, weaving together the narratives, highlighting the depth of impact, and expressing the experiences from an anonymous, yet specific, perspective.

    Created by: Maria Finkelmeier of MF Dynamics with Sofie Hodara, Martha Rettig and U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo
    Made possible by: The Boston Foundation's Live Arts Boston Grant
    In residency at: Goethe Institut, Boston
    Showing in: June 2021

    WHY 
    I can recall specific moments in which the way I was treated by others was shaped by assumptions about my gender: as early as highschool, when several boys quit the drumline when I was named leader, or as recent as last year, when I was told I was “too bubbly” to be an artist, along with other encounters that are too personal to share in writing. To protect myself, I’ve always brushed them off. I will lean in, I will embrace my grit, I will work harder. 

    For most of my life, I have tried to ignore the impact of these assumptions. However, now that I am reflecting more deeply on the systems that support these assumptions, am soliciting questions from students regarding my experiences as a female-identifying creator in male-run industries, and am learning how to raise my daughter as an open and thoughtful individual, I am trying to understand the greater impact gender-based harm has had, and continues to have, on our society. 

    HOW
    I’m interested in utilizing artificial intelligence in this project to anonymize the stories of gender-based harm to try to find patterns. I’d like to explore human assumptions through square parameters - can an algorithm find similar threads in our stories? Are these experiences too nuanced to capture? Or, are the patterns obvious and easily combined? 

    THE TEAM 
    I’m working with artists Sofie Hodara and Marth Rettig to help evaluate the data collected from the AI bot and collaborate to create the immersive performance work. Musical and poetic content will be created in collaboration with U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo, and along with a roster of musicians (TBD) will perform that work at the Goethe Institut this June, 2021.

  • If you've answered "Yes" or "I don't know," please continue to the next page of this form. 

    Note that all information collected, including the virtual conversation, will remain anonymous. 

  • HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

    To prepare:
    Find a friend or companion to include in your conversation. This person should make you comfortable, and empower you to share your story. 


    Then: 

    1. Fill out this form and choose a time to have a conversation with your companion. 
    2. At the time of the conversation, click on the link. 
    3. At the BongoFocus homepage, click “Sign up” 
      Note: you may need to validate your email address 
    4. When prompted, send your friend the invitation and click the arrow to proceed
    5. Allow your microphone and camera
    6. Click Continue to proceed
    7. Click “I agree” 
    8. Wait for your partner to join
      Note: your companion will also need to sign up
    9. Have your conversation, prompted by the three questions at the top of the screen 
    10. You are free to move in between questions, and converse naturally. You will not be kicked out of the room when the timer ends. 
    11. When you are finished chatting, click exit.
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