Marco Donnarumma

Lestes investigates how the technological mediation of the senses enforces normative power. Western society teaches that only one system of perception exists, that of the able and productive body. Accordingly, most technologies are designed for a supposedly universal system of perception. But there exists as many perception modalities as there are bodies.

Lestes is a living installation. A creature sits surrounded by a series of biomechanical ‘organs’ of perception. Visitors are invited to pick up an organ and hold it against their chest and neck. Blurring the line between symbiosis and parasitism, the organs’ tentacular shape envelopes the body, while its sound transducers make contact with the flesh.

The organs are animated by a bespoke AI system that subverts algorithms found in cochlear implants. The AI captures the creature’s heartbeat and blood flow in real-time, analyzing rhythm, intensity and timbre qualities. This information drives the generation of an evolving musical composition, which, in turn, activates the organs through sound and vibrations.

The organs’ biomechanical design transmits sound inside the visitor’s body, exploiting its skeletal structure and fleshly cavities to make sound perceivable as an inner resonance, rather than an external signal. The organs palpitate and breathe inside the visitor’s body, enacting a ghostly, visceral experience of otherness.

But this is just the beginning. Only by closely approaching and touching the creature, the full experience of the artwork will unfold.

Lestes is part of the series I Am Your Body (2022-present), a project investigating deafness, sound, and (artificial) intelligence through participatory research driven by d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing people.