Verena Lercher has a 15-year background as a performer. After completing her training at the Otto Falckenberg School in Munich, she worked in both permanent engagements and the independent scene, closely collaborating with Christoph Schlingensief, Krystian Lupa, Alexander Giesche, Anja Behrens, and Søs Gunver Ryberg. In 2020, she finished her postgraduate studies in exMedia at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne (KHM), earning a diploma in Media Arts. Since 2021, she has been the artistic director of the project SOUNDING OUT IDENTITIES OF THE ARTIFICIAL VOICE, funded by the prestigious TECHNE AHRC DTP programme in the UK.

Already during her tenure as a performer, Verena Lercher delved into artistic explorations of text-to-speech sound architectures, voice synthesis, and voice cloning, utilising various voice synthesis software and artificial intelligence (AI). Her interests lie in examining how media technologies and AI influence our identities, reshaping our monologues and dialogues, thereby affecting our perceptions of the world. Over seven years, she has cultivated an aesthetic practice that employs artificial voice as a creative medium. Lercher is particularly intrigued by the production of yet “unheard” vocal sound artifacts, aiming to offer new perspectives on how synthetic vocal sound in live situations can alter our understanding of presence, the real and the artificial. Many of her works have been created as part of spaes: lab for spatial aesthetic in sound at Berlin Funkhaus, where she has been working as a permanent resident in dialogue with spaes on the plastic spatialization of vocal sounds in loudspeaker environments and VR/XR since its foundation in 2020

 

EXHIBITIONS  I  CONCERTS  I  PERFORMANCES

KONTAKTE FESTIVAL Berlin, counterflow Glasgow, Singapore Art Museum, IKLEKTIC London, Kiasma Theatre Helsinki, SESC Pompeia Sao Paulo Brasilien, Art Centre Christchurch, Kunst im Öffentlichen Raum Graz, FACYL Madrid, EXIT Glasgow, Audiofoundation Auckland, DLF: Kölner Kongress Erzählen in den neuen Medien, Künstlerhaus Graz, Spreehalle Berlin, Errant Sound Berlin, Kunstraum Fuhrwerkswaage Köln, Funkhaus Berlin, Victoria University of Wellington.

Her work Authentic Fake News Apparatus was awarded the Digital Dramaturgy Prize NRW in 2020 (DE).