The interdisciplinary performance Materize interweaves sound, movement and space. The performers play the wearable electronic instrument Hreyfð, which makes sound with gestures using feedback and sensors. Thus, the performers are simultaneously dancers, musicians and a sound system.

The instrument Hreyfð symbolises the transition of technology merging with the human body — a progression humanity rapidly approaches. The development of intelligent technology is primarily focused on technicality, while its effects on compassion, care and interpersonal connections tend to be forgotten. What happens when technology becomes human? Can technology have an intimate emotional relationship with a human? The title Materize refers to the word “matter” and the formation of the intangible, as well as the Latin word “mater”, meaning mother. But who is the mother of technology, and who will care for her? And what happens when compassion is forgotten in technological development?

Sól Ey is a composer, performer and new media artist from Iceland. She makes performances, interactive installations, and designs instruments that combine sound, space, movement, light and the body. Often working with sensors and new technologies, her work emphasises immersion, participation, and social interaction. Paulína Šmatláková is contemporary dancer and dance teacher from Slovakia, based in Denmark.

The video is produced by A4 as part of New Perspectives for Action, a project by Re-Imagine Europe, co-funded by the European Union and supported using public funding by Slovak Arts Council and Bratislava City Foundation.

The video was created also by volunteers, as part of a project supported by the European Solidarity Corps program.
Video: Daniel Kazankov & Michal Vasiľ & Debora Pastirčáková & Paula Díaz & Eduarda Palmeira
Interview: Debora Pastirčáková