FuelNoises

Amidst the age of artificial intelligence, the internet has transformed into a turbulent sea of misinformation. We struggle with the ambiguity of the information age, as we bear witness to our collective inertia in the face of the climate crisis. In a society teetering between doom-scrolling and indifference, how can we comprehend and act within the complexities of our environmental and social landscape?

The digital age has ushered in a paradoxical era, where we are simultaneously empowered and deceived by our smart devices. Antidemocratic narratives get nurtured by the desire for simple answers. It is within this paradox that our anti-hero emerges, ensnared by a relentless barrage of misinformation that is not just human-crafted but amplified and tailored by AI algorithms. This deluge of misinformation leads the protagonist on a perilous journey towards radicalization.

FuelNoises is an audio-visual concert, a digital drama, a performance led by two partners: a human body and an intelligent system. Cutting-edge interactive technologies, driven by AI, enable sound and visuals to dynamically respond to the performer's movements, establishing a symbiotic communication between the technology and the human. The media act as a performance partner, acting on their own algorithmic intentionality. This approach encourages the audience to reflect upon how algorithmic information environments influence our actions and shape our thoughts.

The visuals and soundscape of FuelNoises are sourced from the real-world battlefield of climate change misinformation. Stefano D’Alessio has delved into the depths of social media, collecting a vast array of deceptive posts, videos, images, and texts, which are juxtaposed with debunking resources. The performance is based on the research on climate misinformation of the web installation FuelNoise, in 2023.

FuelNoises explores how can we stay accountable subjects, capable to collectively respond to the dangers of the climate crisis. It beckons us to acknowledge the human element within this chaotic landscape, where we are both the architects and victims of our own misinformation.

With the kind support of the City of Vienna Culture Department, the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sports Austria, Bears in the Park, Symposion Lindabrunn, Angewandte Performance Lab

"[...] ein elektrisierendes Spektakel aus interaktiven Sounds und Bildern, das die Zuschauer*innen in eine reflexive Reise über die Klimakrise und die Rolle von Künstlicher Intelligenz (KI) im Informationszeitalter mitnimmt."

Prospect News, 27. Mai 2024

"Das Stück oszilliert zwischen audiovisuellem Konzert, digitalem Drama und Performance."

Sarah Wetzlmayr, Bühne Magazin, 29. Mai 2024

He has been working as a new media artist, performer, composer and educator for more than a decade. D’Alessio completed a BA degree in Visual and Performing Arts at the IUAV Univ. of Venice and a magister degree in Transmedia Art with Brigitte Kowanz at the Univ. of Applied Arts Vienna. He regularly shows his work in international festivals, holds workshops and teaches in European universities. His practice focuses on communicative human-machine interaction. He develops systems that balance between being playable and expressive, understandable in their dynamics and able to convey meaning. His pieces incorporate the human body as active entity, in close interaction with technology where new media and human physicality are coupled as performing partners. His research addresses internet induced societal issues and explores the multiple influences that the web and its derivates have on the human behaviour and body.

Enrico lives and works in Vienna. His research is focused on new media and illustrations, and his works are mainly prints, animations and VR installations. He creates works that involve 2d and 3d design in order to investigate the perception of the real physical environment into its digital representations and deformations in speculative scenarios. He graduated with a degree in Visual and Performing Arts at IUAV University of Venice in 2010 and graduate at The New Normal multidisciplinary postgraduate research programme at Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design in Moscow in 2017. Enrico is currently 3D developer at CIVA media Art festival.

Agnes Varnai investigates the intersection of fashion and art through her multidisciplinary practice. She was born in 1990 in Dunaújváros and currently living and working in Vienna. She won the Swarovski Award and the Rondo Vöslauer Award with her collection POWER. She exhibited and performed at the Knoll Gallery Budapest, the Galerie der Stadt Villach, MO.E, Take Festival in Vienna and the Vienna Design Week. After her graduation in 2017 at the Univ. of Applied Arts Vienna, she founded the collective: The (new) Constellation, within which she develops multimedia art installations as a combination of AR, fashion and transformed objects. In 2019 Agnes started a research project on a more environmentally friendly alternative to the animal skin. The project, titled Ordained Hardware, received the Creatives for Vienna awarded by the Wirtschaftsagentur Wien.

Sophie is a cultural manager from Hamburg who currently lives and works in Vienna. In 2021 she successfully completed her master's degree in cultural and media management at the Hamburg University of Music and Theater. Prior to her master's studies, she initially worked as a social worker and in the socio-cultural center Kölibri in Hamburg St. Pauli in cultural mediation, urban community work and event organization. During her studies she worked in the artistic administration and the production for festivals and as an assistant to curator Tina Heine. Inspired by intersectional feminist practices, she strives for an empathetic and solidarity-based work environment. Since moving to Vienna in August 2021, she has worked for productions in performance, contemporary dance and new media art, including Lau Lukkarila, Stina Fors, Liv Schellander, Agnes Schneidewind, Julia Novacek and Luigi Guerrieri.

Max Windisch-Spoerk ist Licht- und Sound Designer sowie Musiker. Auch die Raumgestaltung und das Entwerfen von Objekten für die Bühne zählt zu seinen Schwerpunkten. Er studierte Psychologie an der Universität Wien und ist ausgebildeter Veranstaltungstechniker [ im Schauspielhaus Wien ]. Zu seinen letzten Arbeiten im Rahmen des Sprechtheaters zählen das Sound Design und die Komposition für Mein Lieblingstier Heisst Winter (2023) am Schauspiel Frankfurt und Zwiegespräch von Peter Handke im Akademietheater Wien (2022). Als Licht- und Bühnendesigner arbeitete er zuletzt sowohl in Ljubljana als auch in Tirana mit Anna Possarnig (2023), wie auch in Linz für SiLK (2023).  Im Dezember 2023 war er mit der Band Buntspecht als Lichtdesigner auf Tour. In seinen eigenen Arbeiten kombiniert er Licht-, Ton- und Raumgestaltung in installativen Räumen, die die Natur unserer Wahrnehmung und die Definition von Realität erkunden. Zuletzt mit der Interaktiven Klang- und Lichtinstallation Room 107 im Schauspielhaus Wien (2021) und der Installation “Fermati” (2022) im öffentlichen Raum in Wien.