1) The group members are: James Matthews, Steven Bhutra, Benamy Yashar and Ismael Martin. We are all in section 13 and our TF is Xinyu Dong

(2) This project is dealing with the themes of performance and singularity. Our project will explore these themes by creating a situation in which the audience listens to both human and machine “compete” in a musical performance. The big question is: Do you prefer the sound of the machine, or the sound of the human?

(3) We are using four sources as evidence: Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, PDK’s “The Father Thing,” Turing’s Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” and Kleist’s “On the Puppet Theatre.” Each story directly deals with the issues of performance, which is an integral part of our thesis.

(4) Our preliminary thesis is: Performance, although originally a human capacity, is easily fulfilled by machines; the only thing preventing human identity from being compromised by singularity is our appreciation of the imperfections inherent in human behavior.

(5) This project will take the form of an instrumental and vocal performance integrating both organic and mechanical sounds to provide an interesting contrast and ultimately raise a significant question: Dos an audience prefer the music of the human or the computer? Why is one perhaps superior to the other? Our lyrics will also contain references to the four sources of evidence we are using. We decided to take this form because it seems to be the purest “arena” for a competition between a human and a machine. Our song will also be a direct manifestation of the theme of performance and provide an engaging backdrop for the ideas we present in our lyrics.

(6) This project will include designing a powerpoint to go along with the song, writing the song’s lyrics, writing the song’s melody, programming the computer to contribute to the song with its robotic noises, and, of course, matching the outfits for the performance. Steven will program the computer and write lyrics for Blade Runner, Ismael will write lyrics for “The Father Thing” and contribute his beat boxing, Benamy will write lyrics for Turing and perhaps play the saxophone, and James will write lyrics for Kleist and design the powerpoint. Each member will be singing (or rapping) their respective lyrics.