Keywords: installation, sound art, AI, wearable, perception
World Premiere: LAS Foundation, April 2025, Kraftwerk, Berlin
Lestes MK1 is a work in progress, this page will be updated as the project progresses.
In its current form, Lestes consists of a series of biomechanical ‘organs’ of perception. Blurring the line between symbiosis and parasitism, the organ’s sinuous, tentacular shape envelopes the neck of the visitor, while its sound transducers make contact with the flesh.
The organs are animated by a custom AI system. Starting from a dataset of field recordings, music and bodily sounds, such as heartbeat and muscle sounds, the AI creates a composition that activates the organs through sound and vibrations.
The organs exploit the cavities and skeletal structure of the human body to make sound perceivable as an inner resonance, rather than an external force, enacting a ghostly, visceral experience of listening.
Lestes is part of the series I Am Your Body (2022-present), a project investigating how normative power is enforced through the technological mediation of the senses.
Exhibition
- World Premiere. LAS Foundation
Sound Lab curated by Boris Magrini, Kraftwerk, Berlin, DE, 2025
Format
Installation of sculptural, wearable ‘organs’
Duration: variable
Media: Artificially intelligent sensory prostheses, artificial life algorithms and interactive machine learning, computer-processed sound, multi-channel sound diffusion, metal sheets, audio cables.
Credits
Concept, artistic direction, music and programming: Marco Donnarumma
Organs’ concept, morphology, engineering, fabrication and AI programming: Marco Donnarumma
Collaborative research on hardware and AI software: Intelligent Instruments Lab at the Iceland University of the Arts
Organs’ 3D modeling and 3D printing: Christian Schmidts
Collaborative research group: Wojciech Czernia, Adriane Große, Ann-Catrin Gruber, Martin Holst, Mara Matzke
Artwork’s description texts: Marco Donnarumma
Photography: Marco Donnarumma
External eye: Margherita Pevere
Production: Kotryna Slapsinskaite
Lestes is an artwork and production by Marco Donnarumma. Commissioned by LAS Foundation, Berlin and realised with scientific support by the Intelligent Instruments Lab at the Iceland University of Arts in Reykjavík. An early iteration of Lestes was funded by ZER01NE, Seoul.