Jake Elwes - The Zizi Show

The Zizi Show: A Deepfake Drag Cabaret, Museum Version

2020/23, multi-channel video, 29 minute loop

Adapted from The Zizi Show - Interactive Version 2020

V&A Wall Text:

The Zizi Show is a deepfake drag cabaret that explores the ethical problems which exist in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Al refers to the ability of a computer system to interpret and learn from given data. Although viewed by some as flawlessly neutral, Al applications often show discriminatory behaviour because the datasets they rely on reflect the bias of their human programmers. The artist Jake Elwes observed that computer systems have difficulty recognising trans, queer and other marginalised identities', which can cause them to visibly break down. They wanted to highlight how this issue in Al contributes to maintaining society's heteronormative bias. For The Zizi Show, Elwes looked to drag - the ultimate expression of gender non-conformity and constructed identity - to expose and subvert this bias. They consider their work to be both a reclamation of technology that can otherwise be oppressive and exploitative, and a celebration of performance, difference, community and creativity.

All the fabulous performers in The Zizi Show have been generated using deepfake technology, a type of Al process that can create new footage of someone using another person's likeness. Jake Elwes collaborated with a community of drag artists to make photographic datasets of their bodies. New videos were then synthesised using machine learning systems designed to mimic the performers' lip-syncing movements. Elwes deliberately included diverse bodies, genders and sexualities in the datasets, tackling the lack of representation in the algorithms typically used to develop new technologies. The performers consented to having datasets of themselves made and re-animated - a crucial element of the collaboration intended to empower queer communities.

Jake Elwes Artist (Editor, Coder and Producer)

Me - Director of Drag

Toby Elwes - Director of Photography

The Apple Tree and Royal Vauxhall Tavern - Dataset filming locations

Music and performance credits:
This Is My Life, Shirley Bassey: Movement by Me
Raise Your Glass, Pink: Movement by Lilly Snatchdragon
I Am What I Am, La Cage Aux Folles: Movement by Me
Sweet Dreams (Live), Beyoncé: Movement by Cara Melle
Freedom! '90, George Michael: Movement by Mark Anthony
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), Sylvester: Movement by Chiyo
Five Years, David Bowie: Movement by Ruby Wednesday
Transition movement by Wet Mess

Alternative East Quay Wall Text:

The Zizi Show is a deepfake drag cabaret exploring the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and drag performance. This work investigates what A.l. can teach us about drag and what drag can teach us about A.I. The Zizi Show is a drag show with a twist — all the acts featured have been synthesised using deepfake technology.

Deepfakes involve using A.I. algorithms to create or manipulate digital content to portray false events or scenarios convincingly. For example, politicians might be portrayed as saying something they never said or meeting people they never met. The use of A.l. generated content in the media is increasingly common, hard to regulate, and often difficult to distinguish from the 'real thing’.

The Zizi Show demonstrates that A.I. has its limitations. It constructs a virtual cabaret that pushes the limits of what can be imagined on a digital stage. The bodies in the show were generated by neural networks trained on a community of real drag artists who were filmed to create training datasets at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, a legendary LGBTQ+ cabaret venue in London. In the performance, when the A.l. gets confused by the movement of combining multiple different queer identities, the illusion of reality breaks down, causing the performers to break apart and glitch.

The Zizi Show dissects one of the dominant myths about A.I. - the notion that 'an A.l.' is a thing we might mistake for a person. It also highlights an important question about the gender bias of those programming A.l., asking us to consider who built these systems and to what end. In this, The Zizi Show challenges gender, explores otherness, and demonstrates how A.I. is a concept and tool complicit in reproducing social bias. Here, the deepfakes were created collaboratively in celebration of drag, resisting the exploitative and oppressive nature of A.I.

Large projection channel, lipsync movement performed by Cara Melle

Render of 7 close-up channels, lipsync movement performed by Chiyo

Documentation of the final day with members of the Zizi Cast

The Zizi Show 2020 - Jake Elwes digital artist

The Zizi Show 2020 - Jake Elwes digital artist

V&A Photography Centre - Installation image of The Zizi Show, 2020, Jake Elwes, Digital Gallery - Gallery 99. Photo: Thomas Adank & Gibson Thornley Architects

Making of The Zizi Show - Jake Elwes discusses Deepfake Drag