Slowly Fading into Data (2021-2024) – Algorithmic Co-Agency: Ontologies of the Self during persistent Human-AI feedback systems.
Slowly Fading into Data (2021–ongoing) is a speculative research project that investigates the dissolution of human identity in virtual environments. Spanning multiple formats — including a generative AI model, a retro video game, a conceptual music album, a live A/V performance, and an experimental short film — the project explores themes of disembodiment, extended cognition, synthetic identities, and hybrid beings. At its core, the project interrogates how cognition and perception evolve when mediated by digital artifacts. By blending low-tech aesthetics (8-bit game consoles and 8mm film) with high-tech tools (AI-driven design, neural audio synthesis, virtual production), Slowly Fading into Data redefines the audiovisual language used in interactive and immersive experiences. The retro game challenges conventional production through procedurally generated art and sound, while the music album and live performance invite contemplative encounters with post-human sonic landscapes. The film expands these narratives through experimental cinematography, merging fiction and real-time performance. Conceived as artistic research, the project contributes to experimental aesthetics and cognitive science by using game engine technologies and audiovisual systems as laboratories for perception. It offers a novel framework for understanding identity in synthetic environments and raises critical questions about how such transformations shape future sociocultural policies.
Presented & Exhibited
MUTEK (Tokyo 2024), Encoda (Kyoto 2024), The Lab x Active Studio x Knowledge Capital (Osaka 2024), Eufonic (Ebre, 2024), Medialab Matadero (Madrid 2024), Gray Area (San Francisco 2023), Monkspace (Los Angeles 2023), Volta Laboratory Social Club – Records (Atlanta 2023), Refraction – Miami Art Week (Miami 2023), Brooklyn Art Haus (New York 2023), DADS Digital Art Demo Space (Chicago 2023), IKLECTIC (London 2023), MUTEK (Mexico 2023), Romaeuropa (Rome 2023), Sónar+d (Barcelona, 2023), Digital Impact (Barcelona 2023), Amaze Festival (Berlin 2023).
Credits
Directed, Developed & Produced:
Albert Barque-Duran (Albert.DATA)
Co-Produced:
Institut Ramon Llull
NewArt { foundation;}
Neutone - Qosmo
MUTEK Tokyo
Knowledge Capital
Gray Area San Francisco
Sónar + D
Departament de Cultura - Generalitat de Catalunya
Light Technology Partner & Film Co-Producer:
Protopixel
Film Art Direction Manager:
Sandra Camacho
Film Technical Manager:
Ricard Martinez
Film Camera Operator:
Santi Martinez
Film & Performance Costume Design:
Denise Graus
Film & Performance Faceware Design:
Ewa Nowak
Film Production Assistant:
Mayeli Varela
Lighting Manager:
Kiks Canto
Tour Visual Communication:
Victor Ortiz
Academic Partners:
UPF (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) - Area Tallers
La Salle Campus Barcelona - Universitat Ramon Llull
Collaborator:
La Casa de la Luz (Simon)
Acknowledgments:
GBStudio