In SUPERIMPOSITION, the idea of "earworms," or "sonic worms," is examined. These are any auditory stimuli that forcefully ingrain themselves into the brain to the point where they cause cognitive control processes and turn into parasites. Sound worms, first identified at the close of the the nineteenth century and subsequently dubbed "brainworms" by Oliver Sacks, are associated with popular culture, including video games, pop music, advertising, and TV theme tunes. They may also be heard at pubs, restaurants, shopping malls, airports, and gyms. They are distinguished by repetitive sound and melody sequences that they find hard to break free from. Acknowledging these processes is a difficult task as listening instruction is either lacking or non-existent.

Based on this research, SUPERIMPOSITION began analysing data on more than 10,000 songs that were included in international popular charts between 2000 and 2022. Software that was specifically created was used to automate this analysis, which is dependent on how much and how often the music is played. The texts that describe the music as earworms were chosen using computers and data analytic approaches. Their mathematically produced overlapping creates the piece SUPERIMPOSITION, a composite and unpleasant sound in which there is no longer any discernible melody. The piece is intended to be performed, and it is imagined as a dystopian fashion show reminiscent of old rituals in which the audience and the performers are one single body of the scene. Appearing like sculpture dresses, the clothes on the catwalk are composed of textile materials that can absorb and refract sound pressure, known as sound-absorbing textiles. These materials were identified with the technical and scientific backing of the Polytechnic of Turin's Energy research department. Large speakers and LED walls complement the Armor suits, which are intended to provide actual protection for the ear and the bodies parading about the scene.
Through collaborative experimentation and creative contamination, the clothing's design was produced in collaboration with the MARIOS brand, drawing inspiration from models ranging from Supremacist avant-garde to oriental tradition. The video piece, which was made by directing several camera angles, also translated the scenic and acoustic dramaturgy of the performance, which was held in April 2024 in Luxembourg's Great Hall of the famed Cercle Cité. The SUPERIMPOSITION exhibition at the Cercle Cité in Luxembourg is on view through June 30, 2024.

Polisonum is an artistic research group that explores processes and metamorphoses related to the present by using sound as an investigation tool and approach. It is distinguished by research that uses installations and performative performances to listen to and analyze the locations in which it operates. It creates projects that feed on a rigorous practice of research and analysis in connection to other fields of knowledge with the goal of experimenting with listening and seeing experiences because of its hybrid identity that brings together different disciplines. Polisonum has received invitations from a number of organizations and events, including Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen (CH), Una modata d'arte (AV), Fondazione Volume (RM), and MAXXI National Museum of the Arts of the 21st Century (RM).

Romaeuropa Festival (RM), Palazzo Altemps (RM), Palazzo Pallavicini (BO), OTO Sound Museum Zurich (CH), and The Others (TO). collaborates on the Green Network project, which is meant for the Biennial of Public Space, with the Faculty of Civil and Industrial Engineering at La Sapienza University of Rome. He was awarded the Best Unpublished Work Award at The Others in 2016 and the "Utopia" Special Award of the Talent Prize in 2018. He has released many vinyl records throughout the years, the most recent of which being Passi 13'36" that he co-published with artist Alfredo Pirri.

SUPERIMPOSITION is sponsored by the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities' General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity and is part of the Italian Council program (XII edition). It will be shown at a number of locations, including the Polytechnic of Turin (Turin, IT), Alte Fabrik (Rapperswil, CH), Ars Electronica (Linz, AT), Careof (Milan, IT), Haus der Kunst (Munich, DE), Iklectik (London, UK), MAMbo - Art Museum Moderna (Bologna), and OTO SOUND MUSEUM (Zurich, CH).

Image credit: SUPERIMPOSITION, Polisonum, video still, 2024