Marco Donnarumma

ΣXHALE exposes algorithmic violence by questioning the responsibilities of both artificial intelligence and one‘s own. It is an ecosystem of catharsis, a biome whose very existence demands alternative forms of empathy and knowledge.

The structure of algorithmic violence is both visible and invisible. It involves both carbon-based beings – such as humans, animals and plants – and silicon-based entities – such as artificial intelligence algorithms. Humans dictate instructions, algorithms repeat instructions, living things suffer instructions, capital increases; and again, humans dictate, algorithms repeat, living things suffer, capital increases. It’s an intricate net of relations, or a continuous loop of actions and consequences, where every one has a responsibility.

ΣXHALE asks a seemingly simple question: How do you know what you know? Your knowledge derives from your viewpoint, but your viewpoint is, by definition, subjective. What you see can never be the whole story, and ΣXHALE will prove to you just that. Come sit in these derelict greenhouses and discover a labyrinth of perspectives, of half-seen events, and of unseen reactions. Since, here, one’s perspective is never truly complete, alternative forms of empathy and knowledge must be created.

Beware though, here, you sit amid a swarming ecosystem where humans are not the only actors: seedlings, fungi and the custom-made artificial intelligence (AI) named <dmb> are co-creators too. <dmb>, the AI performer, orchestrates rhythm, music and lights in response to the actions of the other performers. As if it was a whirling wind, <dmb> stirs everything and everyone on stage and it is swayed by them at the same time.

Through infinite loops, this human-nature-machine entanglement becomes a cathartic ritual, a symbiogenesis. Again and again, every evening anew, the people, living things and machines in ΣXHALE create ever new realities – a multiverse of possibilities where the narration reaches a different ending each time. How can the circle of violence be broken? If any action here has a consequence, what will you do?

ΣXHALE is a rhizome of the Humane Methods project, an ongoing reflection on violence in algorithmic societies by the artist group Fronte Vacuo.