Cyber Performance

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Participate in Cyber Performance

As part of the Empathy exhibition, the artist Ali Akbar Mehta has an artwork purgatory EDIT: The Liberation Archives for the Cyborgs of Now (2026). The artwork is a user-generated montage-based cinematic experience.

The artwork explores how digital technologies shape the subconscious and our sense of reality—through visual manipulation, sensory overload, data fatigue, and ideological numbness. At the same time, the work asks what happens to empathy when reality is filtered through screens and algorithms: does human connection persist, or does it shift? Does witnessing violence heighten emotional sensitivity, or does it numb us to its presence?

The artwork includes a performance that invites participant to engage and explore the artwork’s archive in a guided way. It combines the act of viewing with the participant’s emotions, bodily reactions, and thought processes. To enable this, the experience uses an EEG brain sensor, a brain–computer interface (BCI), and custom software developed by the purgatory EDIT team.

What happens during the performance?
During the performance, the participant watches archival material through XR glasses while the EEG device measures emotion‑related reactions. The device interprets these reactions through six emotional states: interest, engagement, concentration, stress, excitement, and relaxation. This data is transferred to the brain–computer interface for processing.

The audio and video processing software makes it possible for the participant’s emotions to directly influence the order and presentation of the archival clips. For example, the level of stress may determine how intense the violence in the video clip is, and concentration may affect when the video shifts to the next one. How does the mind react to images? And how does empathy arise—or disappear—amid a constant flow of images?

The participant’s real-time interaction during the performance produces unique, conceptual, montage-based cinematic compositions—so‑called experience videos. They reveal each participant’s individual relationship to representations of violence, the attention economy, and surveillance capitalism. These montage videos are shown in the museum whenever the niche is not being used for the performance. These compilations are displayed in the museum whenever the installation space is not in use for a live performance.

Information for booking:
Instructions during the performance are given in English.
Participation is free of charge.
Participants must be at least 18 years old.

Dates & Times
Performance durations are available (15 minutes and 30 minutes) on the following days:

Thu                  16 April            12–18
Fri                    17 April            12–18
Sat                   18 April            12–15

Thu                  14 May             12–18
Fri                    15 May             12–18
Sat                   16 May             12–15
Sun                  17 May             12–15

Thu                 8 October       17.30–20.00
Sat                 10 October     12–15
Sun                11 October     12–15

How to Participate - follow these steps:

Log in at PURGATORY EDIT
Book a time slot that suits you.
Carefully read the visual content notice and the disclaimer before taking part.
Arrive at the museum in your reserved time and enjoy the performance.

What happens when you register?
Signing up creates your unique protected user ID, where you will have permanent access to your Playlists, your generated Experience Log recording and the EEG-based data output generated*.

*Please note: EEG-based data output is available to you only if you have consented to the recording and storage of this data in the Consent Form.

The work has been created in collaboration with:

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