WICKER PARK — Are the "evil natured robots" that Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne sang about really programmed to destroy us? Feeling nervous about the possibility of a robot apocalypse?
Set for 7 p.m. Friday to 1 a.m. Saturday, a "Robocapalyse" party and silent art auction will serve as a Wicker Park nonprofit group's 16th annual fundraiser. And, for those concerned about the possibility of an Artificial Intelligence-driven apocalypse, Heaven Gallery's gathering will provide the opportunity to "dance your robotic fears away," organizers say.
Tickets are a $20 suggested donation and include an art auction featuring works by 24 artists, an A.I. dance party and complimentary food and drinks donated by local business sponsors.
Futuristic attire is suggested for the machine uprising dance party, led by DJs Ayana Contreras, host/producer of Reclaimed Soul, on Vocalo.org (WBEZ), Jesse Andwich from Danny’s Nightmoves and Cordell Johnson & James Vincent (JV) Excursions House Music.
Buy tickets online or at the door, if space remains.
Located at 1550 N. Milwaukee Ave., above Lubinski Furniture, Heaven Gallery is owned by David Dobie and fashion designer Alma Wieser.
Founded in 1997, Heaven Gallery and showcases the works of new and emerging artists, musicians and filmmakers. All events, including Saturday's party, are open to audiences on a pay-what-you-can basis.
Wieser said the party's futuristic theme was inspired by a comedian Duncan Trussall, whose recent show at Thalia Hall "was more like a lecture about the Singularity but with a few jokes sprinkled in about sex robots."
"It's a very real theory and a bit scarier than a zombie apocalypse since companies like Google are making Robots. We wanted to make people aware of this now and have some fun with it since in the future it's a very realistic threat," Wieser said.
Ray Kurzweil's singularity theory hypothesizes in the year 2045, we will reach a point where progress is so rapid it outstrips humans' ability to comprehend it.
"Once the Singularity has been reached, Kurzweil says that machine intelligence will be infinitely more powerful than all human intelligence combined," Wieser said.
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