GRACE

Grace is an interactive performance and a deeply personal look at artificial intelligence, games, technology, and the people who make them. It is an investigation of how we interact with natural language processing programs everyday--and how they will never love us back. It is about identity and how it is constructed in person and online. And it’s about what happens when your voice travels around the world in ways you never imagined.

In 2003, I was hired to provide the voice for “Grace” for a video game loosely based on the play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The game used natural language processing to provide realistic interactions between players and characters. It was released online in 2006; to date it has been downloaded 5 million times. In the years since, “Grace” has been the inspiration for fan art, memes, and music. She’s reached a much wider audience than I ever will.

As we negotiate a world where AI changes every day, where artists are fighting to keep control of their voices, Grace is a chance to think about what it means to become part of technology, and what we lose and gain.

GRACE is available for touring. Please reach out directly at chloefsjohnstonATgmail.

(This project was supported and developed by Pivot Arts, Links Hall, The Orchard Project, Roman Susan Gallery and Lake Forest College)

Northwestern University, Chicago (2024)

The Orchard Project, New York (2023)

Roman Susan Gallery, Chicago (2023)

Lucky Plush as part of The Map of Now, 2021, directed by Shana Cooper (2021)