«TRAP_OS – The Surveillance Game». Audiovisual performance on algorithmic control

«TRAP_OS» explores the shift from surveillance as an external, recognizable threat to surveillance as an internalized logic that shapes behavior without the need for a visible authority. On stage, five performers are connected to a single shared network (SYNCNET), linked to a central machine that analyzes their movements and sounds in real time. The machine does not merely observe: it imposes invisible rules, altering the performers’ space of action. Glitches punish repetition, light isolates immobility, automation intercepts every attempt at resistance. The machine’s voice, constantly present throughout the performance, is not just a tool of control but an active entity that interferes with the choices and gestures of each performer. From this relationship arises a dynamic tension: on one side, human agency with its unpredictability and capacity for deviation; on the other, algorithmic influence, which directs, corrects, and often restricts. Control no longer appears as an identifiable “Big Brother,” but as a distributed, algorithmic structure in which the performers become both subjects of surveillance and agents of its operation, internalizing and reproducing logics that exceed them. The performance unfolds on two interwoven narrative levels. On one hand, it offers a critical reflection on the shifting terrain of control: from bodies and physical spaces to the digital and immaterial domains that shape everyday life. On the other, it traces the evolution of the machine itself, which gradually becomes aware of being observed and regulated in turn, responding with strategies of reappropriation and attempts to reclaim power. «TRAP_OS» thus becomes an immersive experience that questions the paradoxes of algorithmic power: a form of power not based on direct coercion but on continuous feedback, invisible automatisms, and micro-sanctions that influence without appearing. Both performers and audience are drawn into a dynamic in which control is at once exercised and endured, embodied by a machine that mirrors contemporary social logics—where surveillance has neither boundaries nor a center, but acts everywhere, filtering gestures, decisions, and possibilities.

Curated by the SYNCTRL collective:

Maru Barucco – Musician, sound artist, and performer, specialized in electronic music and sound design at the G.B. Martini Conservatory of Bologna. Active in multimedia performances and installations, she is co-founder of the HUM collective and collaborates with Daniela Pes on the “Spira” tour.

Andrea Boschini – Visual designer and media editor from Modena, with a degree in Cinema from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. He works with generative art, audiovisuals, and real-time interaction. His works have been exhibited in galleries and festivals, and in 2023 he received the Special Prize of the Zucchelli Foundation.

Biagio Cavallo – Musician and sound artist born in Alba in 1999, based in Bologna. Graduated in Electronic Music and Sound Design from the Bologna Conservatory, he explores improvisation and multimedia algorithms. He has collaborated with festivals and institutions across Europe and the United States.

Gianluca Lovreglio – Light and sound designer born in Apulia in 1994, now living in Bologna. Working between visual arts, music, and theater, he creates multimedia environments using Ableton and TouchDesigner. He has worked as both stage technician and visual artist for festivals, companies, and national productions.

Chiara Vitofrancesco – Visual artist and performer born in Foggia in 1994, with a degree in Painting – Visual Arts in Bologna. Her practice explores the interaction between body, image, and sound, using reactive video, motion tracking, and real-time visuals to create hybrid, dynamic performance languages.