This fall, TheaterLab welcomes back Venezuelan artist Maria Fernanda (Mafe) Izaguirre to present The Postpoetic Machine, an immersive cybernetic art installation that delves into the evolving relationship between humans, machines, and language.

Set within a hybrid landscape, audiences are invited to challenge traditional boundaries of communication, exploring interspecies and human-machine dialogue. Featuring collaborations with guest artists Enrique Enriquez, Peter Sciscioli, and Yoko Murakami, the installation offers a series of participatory cybernetic and poetic experiences designed to expand human cognitive capabilities and probe the implications of technological assimilation.

The exhibit, featuring the titular Postpoetic Machine and other interactive objects – created from scratch by Izaguirre who came up with the concepts, researched, built, and programmed the electronic components, and wrote some of the poetry featured in the show – provides a thought-provoking experience of exploring our evolving hybridization process with machines. This exhibition is a testament to the artist’s ongoing investigation into the posthuman condition and the future of human-machine communication, offering speculative scenarios that propel us into new existential horizons.

The show is complemented by four experimental performance sessions with Mafe Izaguirre and the guest artists. Audiences are encouraged to participate, expand their consciousness, and reflect on the implications of a posthuman future.