Polisonum: SUPERIMPOSITION

In SUPERIMPOSITION the Italian artist duo Polisonum (Filippo Lilli and Donato Loforese) explores the concept of earworms: catchy sequences of melody fragments from pop music, advertising, TV theme songs or video games that are difficult to escape.

To realise this project, which addresses one of the most pervasive cognitive control systems in our society, a data analysis was carried out on more than 10,000 English-language music tracks that appeared in the popular international charts between 2000 and 2022. This analysis, based on the word repeatability index, was automated using specially developed software. The songs were then superimposed to generate a composition devoid of any recognisable melody–a gesture of pulverisation and disarmament of the earworm.

At the GEBERT STIFTUNG FÜR KULTUR /*ALTEFABRIK the project is on display in its entirety for the first time–a journey that moves between research processes and artistic interventions. SUPERIMPOSITION unfolds in all its parts as a site-specific installation. Viewers and listeners can wander through a multi-layered parcours exploring the creative process behind it, which oscillates between sound art, fashion, performance, research, data analysis, and staging. Snapshots of various stages in the work's creation are shown, including a video work, video documentations, a sound installation and sound-absorbing fashion garments. These garments are experimental armor designed to protect the body from earworms, and were developed in collaboration with the brand MARIOS and the Energy Department of the Polytechnic University of Turin. Along with the sound that inhabits the space, these sculptural clothes line the route, while fragments of text created from the algorithmic analysis of catchy tunes, like cut-up poetry, illuminate the settings and reveal the invisible mechanisms of popular music.

For the opening of the SUPERIMPOSITION exhibition, the artist duo Polisonum will bring the exhibition space to life with a performative act, conceived as a dystopian catwalk and reminiscent of ancient rituals. 

The exhibition is curated by Francesca Ceccherini and Anastasia Chaguidouline
Data curation: Elisa Bernardoni / Performer: Valentina Sansone / 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: Vittorio Antonacci.

SUPERIMPOSITION is supported by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture under the Italian Council program (2023) and has been presented at Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria), Careof (Milan, Italy), Cercle Cité (Luxembourg, Luxembourg), Haus der Kunst (Munich, Germany), MAMbo - Museo d’Arte Moderna Bologna (Bologna, Italy), Politecnico di Torino (Turin, Italy), and OTO SOUND MUSEUM (Zurich, Switzerland).