Sensorium: Artificial States of Nature
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Meeting place:
Backyard (access via Milchstraße)
Languages: English, Arabic (with English subtitles)
Sensorium is an exploratory, multisensory theater performance that examines the nature of perception through the integration of modern technologies. Emerging from the artistic research of Yuri Akbalkan, this project investigates how human perception can be constructed and manipulated under specially designed conditions, and what insights can be gained from this for artistic practice.
A multisensory quest: An international, interdisciplinary team of artists explores sensory modalities, weaving XR experiences with taste, scents, touch, sensors, holography, sound, and light.
The interplay of various media unfolds through storytelling and invites the audience to question their own beliefs and perceptions. Both the audience and the performers are accompanied on their multisensory quest by a voice assistant and looked after by the maintenance staff.
Bohlen–Pierce–Harpsichord: As an acoustic gateway to the performance, Elena Khurgina presents Akbalkans’ new piece for the Bohlen–Pierce harpsichord, sensors, and electronics, with lighting design by Diego Muhr.
The Bohlen–Pierce scale was developed independently by the Hamburg-based engineer Heinz Bohlen (1972), the Dutch software developer Kees van Prooijen (1978), and the American engineer John Pierce (1984). Remarkably, all three arrived at the same 13-step, non-octaved scale that focuses on odd-numbered frequency ratios. In the context of *Sensorium*, the BP scale marks the first harmonic shift in perception, followed by the Shepard tone and the Shepard-Risset glissando—two techniques for shaping auditory perception.
Although the composition incorporates sensors, effects pedals, and live electronics, it exhibits a characteristic structure rooted in harpsichord literature from the Renaissance through the early and high Baroque periods. Synthesizing the genre models of the Prélude non mesuré and the Italian toccata, the piece’s formal structure follows a progressive form. It is a moment in which both the performers and the audience are immersed in the sound world of the Bohlen-Pierce harpsichord.
Post-truth and an Epitaph for Liberalism: The political and philosophical dimensions of the narrative emerge through an interplay of narratives, hyperlinks, and connotations. These refer to *The New Leviathans* by the English political philosopher John Gray. In his *Epitaphia on Liberalism*, Gray argues that the liberal order—once understood as a guarantor of freedom and progress—has transformed into a new form of authoritarianism.
The “old Leviathan,” a metaphor for the state coined by the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes in the 17th century, has today given way to a more sophisticated “new Leviathan” of the 21st century. This new Leviathan goes beyond Hobbes’ concept and has evolved into an “engineer of souls” that controls actions, and even thoughts and identities. While Hobbes described the natural state of humankind as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short” and viewed the state as a necessary safeguard against this fate, according to Gray, the new Leviathans create “artificial states of nature” —the project of creating new collectives as a precursor to a state of chronic warfare between the identities they embody.
Team
Artistic Direction, Concept, Composition YURI AKBALKAN
Food Concept, Performance SALAH ZATER
Harpsichord, IMU Sensors, Performance ELENA KHURGINA
Lighting Design DIEGO MUHR
Ensemble (Holographic Displays, Maintenance Staff) STUDENTS OF THE HfMT HAMBURG
Project Coordination, ligeti zentrum: BENJAMIN HELMER
Sound: KATHARINA RASPE, GIOVANNI DINELLO
Lighting: BIRGER VON LEESEN, GERALD TIMMANN
Technical Director, Forum: OLIVER KIRSCHNER
Eintritt: 12,00 EUR
Ermäßigt: 6,00 EUR
HfMT-Studierende: frei
More information about ticketing will be posted here shortly.
A collaboration with the ligeti zentrum. Supported and sponsored by the ligeti zentrum and the Hamburg University of Music and Drama.
The ligeti zentrum is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the City of Hamburg as part of the federal-state initiative “Innovative University.”
Event Schedule
October 18, 2026, 7:00 p.m.
October 19, 2026, 7:00 p.m.