Superimposition

︎︎︎ Performance video

︎︎︎ Interview


Supported by
The Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture under the Italian Council program (2023) 


Presented at *Alte Fabrik (Rapperswil, CH), Ars Electronica (Linz, AT), Careof (Milan, IT), Haus der Kunst (Munich,DE), Iklectik (London, UK), Politecnico di Torino (Turin, IT), OTO SOUND MUSEUM (Zurich, CH).

SUPERIMPOSITION will enter the collection of MAMbo - Museo d'Arte Moderna Bologna.

Artistis:
POLISONUM (Filippo Lilli, Donato Loforese)

Co-curators : Francesca Ceccherini and Anastasia Chaguidouline

Data Curator : Elisa Bernardoni

Fashion Design : MARIOS Collective

Research of material and phono-resistance :
Marco Carlo Masoero, Louena Shtrepi, Politecnico di Torino, DENERG

Scientific support :
Francesco Nucci, Neuroscientist

Video work in collaboration with :
Antonio Antonacci

Performers : Arianna Balestrieri, Vera Borghini, Erica Bravini, Luca della Corte, Alex Paniz, Michael Incarbone, Valentina Sansone

SUPERIMPOSITION IS AN ARTISTIC PROJECT BY POLISONUM THAT INVESTIGATES THE THEME OF LISTENING AND SONIC CONTROL. THE PROJECT IS REALISED THROUGH THE ENCOUNTER OF MULTIPLE DISCIPLINARY FIELDS INCLUDING SOUND, DATA ANALYSIS, FASHION, AND VISUAL ARTS.

SUPERIMPOSITION explores the concept of earworms – those sonic agents that coercively graft themselves onto the brain until they become parasites and provoke mechanisms of cognitive control. Already known at the end of the 19th century, the phenomena were later defined as brainworms by Oliver Sacks. Sound worms are linked to mass culture such as pop music, advertisements, video games and TV theme songs. They also inhabit airports, bars, shops, gyms and shopping centres, and are characterised by sequences of redundant melodies that are difficult to escape. Recognising these mechanisms is complex, due to a weak, if not absent, general education in listening. Based on this research, SUPERIMPOSITION launched a data analysis of more than 10.000 music tracks featured in the popular international charts from 2000 to 2022. This analysis - which is based on the quantity and repetitiveness of the music – has been automated with a specially developed software. Algorithms and data analysis techniques were used to select the most characteristic lyrics. Their mathematically generated superimposition composes the work

SUPERIMPOSITION - a composition in which no melody is recognisable. The work is conceived as a performative act, a fashion show that recalls ancient rituals in which the performers and the audience become a single body on stage. The garments made of sound-absorbing fabrics, which look like sculptural dresses, have been presented in a fashion-show-like choreography. The textile materials, identified with the technical-scientific support of the Politecnico di Torino, are capable of refracting and absorbing sound pressure. These armour suits are designed as empirical protections for the ear and the body. The fashion design of the garments has been developed with the MARIOS brand through shared experimentation and a creative contamination that intends to look from the avant-garde supremacist models to the oriental tradition. The scenic and sound dramaturgy of the performance, which was presented in the Great Hall of the historic Cercle Cit in Luxembourg at the end of April, has also been interpreted in the video work realised through is multi-point direction.

Year: 2024

   
    Superimpositon Video
    Video Still

︎ Notation

︎ Sound Composition

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