Viktor Timofeev’s Alice, Bob, Carol and David combines film, gaming and choreography. Featuring four characters in structured randomness, the work reflects on control, improvisation and emotional engagement. Through annotated video, it highlights the paradoxes of logic, autonomy and generative creativity.
Viktor Timofeev’s Alice, Bob, Carol and David blurs the boundaries between film, gaming and performance. Inspired by Yvonne Rainer’s generative scores from the 1960s four protagonists move within an interdependent choreographic system, with repetitive, everyday movements, the piece invites us to reflect on the balance between improvisation, chance and structure.
These four characters – named after cryptographic placeholders – move within a system Timofeev created in the Unity game engine. An accompanying video, filmed at an angle from above, shows how their movements are determined by specific rules. Each step is analysed and shown with clear annotations, although they are stuck in a kind of loop, no character does exactly the same thing more than once, revealing the tension between chance and structure.
As their creator, Timofeev struggles with his own role, finding both control and catharsis in his puppet-like characters. The silent theatrics of their programmed interactions resonate with themes of logic, autonomy and emotional engagement. By calling them Alice, Bob, Carol and David, Timofeev elevates their generic identities into something deeply human, bridging the gap between abstraction and recognisability.
Country of production – Latvia, USA
Year - 2024
Festival edition - IFFR 2025
Length - 21"
Language - English
Premiere status - International premiere
Director - Viktor Timofeev
Producer - Viktor Timofeev
Sales / World rights holder - Viktor Timofeev
Sound design - Miša Skalskis
Music - Miša Skalskis
