Patchlab 2026: ONIRICA () | fuse*_IT

A live performance that combines dance, real-time image and artificial intelligence, exploring the bodily dimension of sleep and its fleeting, unstable logic. The project was created in collaboration with Italian choreographer Diego Tortelli and develops Oniric's series of works, this time focusing on the relationship between the dreaming body and the synthetic image. Projket was honored in the Lumen Prize 2025 final.

About the event

The structure of the performance is based on fragments of real dreams taken from the archives of the University of California, Santa Cruz and the University of Bologna, covering more than 28,000 records collected since 1930. Their analysis reveals recurring themes, images and emotions, appearing regardless of time, place and culture.

These individual experiences are transformed by AI into a fluid, cinematic reality that unfolds live with the performer's movement. The work raises the question of what happens to the most intimate and subjective area of human experience when it is subjected to analysis, processing and visualization by artificial intelligence. Here, the dream becomes at the same time an archive, data and a space of common, synthetic imagination.

The Onirica 0 visual layer is based on a pipeline integrating the Diffusers diffusion model library, developed by Hugging Face, and OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL). The performance uses the motion capture Perception Neuron system from NOITOM.

Creators

Directed by: Mattia Carretti

Executive Producer: Mattia Carretti, Luca Camellini

Choreography: Diego Tortelli

Performer: Hélias Salvador Dorvault

Music and sound design: Riccardo Bazzoni

Chief Visual Designer: Matteo William Salsi

Software Development: Matteo William Salsi, Alessandro Mintrone, Matteo Amerena

Selection of dreams: Alessandro Mintrone

Voices of Dreams: Matteo Amerena

Prompt design: Alessandro Mintrone, Matteo William Salsi, Mattia Carretti, Matteo Amerena

Lighting design: Stefano Cane, Matteo Amerena

Technical management: Matteo Amerena

Hardware Engineering: Matteo Amerena, Matteo William Salsi, Alessandro Mintrone

Communication and copywriting: Virginia Bianchi

Production Assistants: Filippo Aldovini, Virginia Bianchi, Martina Reggiani

Studio and Event Management: Martina Reggiani

Graphic design of the booklet: Olimpia Zamò

Photo and video documentation: Matteo Torsani, Emmanuele Coltellacci

About Patchlab Festival

“The fifteenth edition of Patchlab does not spread a vision of the technological future, but confronts the ideas and promises that we have associated over the years with the development of digital tools and systems,” explains Elwira Wojtunik-Láng. “15 years ago we asked what we can do with new technologies. Today we ask what they are doing with our plans and whether we can still imagine the future beyond what they can generate and predict.”

Patchlab Digital Art Festival will take place in Krakow from October 15 to 18, 2026. Festival events will be presented in the Potocki Palace, Manggha, Cricoteka, MOCAK, Design Pharmacy and Hevre+1, among others.

Full program and tickets available at: https://patchlab.pl/

The event is co-organized by the Italian Institute of Culture.

The project is co-financed by the City of Krakow.