Noisy Joints: Embodying the AI Glitch
Critical AI Puppetry Workshop
With Camila Galaz

Part of the “Network Anarchy and Unstable Diffusions” Workshop Series, Convened by Joel Stern (RMIT), Thao Phan (ANU), and Christopher O’Neill (Deakin)

Artists and researchers Eryk Salvaggio and Camila Galaz present a participatory workshop on interrupting and reframing the outputs of generative AI systems. Drawing from a critical AI puppetry workshop originally developed at the Mercury Store in Brooklyn, New York, Noisy Joints invites participants to think through the body—its categorisation, misrecognition, and noise—within AI image-generation systems. How do our physical movements interact with machine perception? How can choreographies of shadow, gesture, and failure unsettle the logic of automated categorisation?

Across the session, participants will explore these questions through short talks, collaborative video-making, glitch-puppetry exercises, and experimental use of tools like Runway’s GEN3 model. Using shadows, projections, and improvised movement, the workshop will trace a playful and critical path through the interfaces and assumptions that shape AI perception. No technical experience is required.

Supported by ADM+S as part of the project ‘Evaluating Automated Cultural Curating and Ranking Systems with Synthetic Data’. Presented in association with the National Communication Museum, School of Media and Communication RMIT, and the AusSTS 2025 Conference ‘Signals and Noises’, which runs from July 9-11. Details here.