Jake Elwes, Zizi in Motion: A Deepfake Drag Utopia–Lilly Snatchdragon, 2023 (montage); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee purchase, by exchange, through a gift of Michael D. Abrams; courtesy the artist and Lilly Snatchdragon; © Jake Elwes
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Jake Elwes: Zizi in Motion: A Deepfake Drag Utopia (Movement by Wet Mess)
Artist Jake Elwes harnesses AI and drag performance to interrogate the biases embedded in digital technology. *Zizi in Motion* features 21 life-size deepfakes of London drag artists performing choreography by drag legend Wet Mess on a monumental LED screen. By collaborating directly with performers to create AI versions of themselves, Elwes uses drag's subversive potential to expose how artificial intelligence reinforces normative assumptions about gender and representation. The resulting video installation celebrates queer creativity while critically revealing the limitations and blind spots of the systems shaping our digital futures.