East London Art Prize x UCL East: Live performance, 'Waluigi’s Purgatory' (2024) with dmstfctn

A special late evening featuring a live performance by East London Art Prize 2025 shortlisted artist duo dmstfctn on their interactive simulation-based work, Waluigi’s Purgatory, (2024) that tells the story of an AI that finds itself in a purgatory for AIs that cheated during training. dmstfctn, Waluigi’s Purgatory (2024), Installation View. Nunnery Gallery. Photo by Rob Harris East London Art Prize shortlisted artist duo dmstfctn will present Waluigi’s Purgatory (2024), an interactive performance telling the story of an AI that finds itself in a purgatory for AIs that cheated during their training. Burdened by memories of its past and by doubts on its future, the AI explores the purgatory with the help of interacting audiences, learning the uncanny stories of other characters that it meets. Set in a 3D theatre simulated in real-time, and experienced as a dream, Waluigi’s Purgatory is a journey through the contradictions of machine intelligence as an AI learns to accept that its desires may not align with those of its human trainers. The audience guides the AI through its encounters, making choices on its behalf by using their phone to each move a light within the 3D simulation.