Matteo Melotto
NAGBAHAL
Performance
3 hours
2024
Performistanbul, Istanbul

Italian artist Matteo Melotto aspires to create a space of discovery by questioning the relationship between humanity, technology and spirituality with a ritual performance entitled NAGBAHAL, described as an “archetypal journey”. NAGBAHAL offers an underground experience where videos produced with artificial intelligence and manipulated inner body sounds come together.

In the exhausting climate of turbo-capitalism, Melotto delves into a search for antidotes, creating a meditative ritual that reconnects individuals with themselves and their surroundings through innovative technology. Seeking to escape the chaos of contemporary life, the artist descends into an intimate, subterranean space, inviting viewers to peer into a black fabric well

Within this otherworldly space, where isolation and self-reflection are inevitable, Melotto contemplates the concepts of human and environment with a 40 square meter black skirt that becomes an extension of the artist’s body in a three-hour static and meditative performance. Alternating between ritualistic and contemplative poses, Melotto aims to foster deep awareness and connection with their innermost self.  Therefore, technology transcends chaotic overstimulation, morphing into a tool for introspection and spiritual ascension, merging with the ritual dimension.

Realised in collaboration with the sound designer Yarin Cardillo, the sound installation, which is intended to immerse the audience invited to observe and partake in the ritual, is priorly produced by capturing and digitally manipulating sounds from the artist’s body using contact microphones that detect vibrations beyond surface levels.

Along with the sound work, the performance is enhanced with AI-generated videos produced with video artist Megan Volpe, exploring the archetypes of a nest as a safe space to reclaim peace and meaning. Through the graphic representations of AI models, the videos add a new layer to the spiritual and technological ecstasy, presenting the psychological need for withdrawal and unity with the whole, the utopian reflections of the external universe that surrounds the human being and the inner universe the artist carries within.