Alva Noto's Unieqav at Teatro Bellini, Naples

Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai, born 1965 in Germany) presented the evolved version of his audiovisual project Unieqav at Teatro Bellini in Naples, as part of the Synth series curated by Cesare Settimo. The performance, held in the 19th-century theater in the historic city center, marks a progression from the beta version first shown in Florence at Nextech Festival a year and a half earlier. Unieqav merges sound and visuals in a synesthetic experience, alternating between minimal, painterly phases and aggressive, machine-driven sequences with violent synthetic sounds and flashing lights. The work incorporates elements reminiscent of Rothko's spatial studies and Matthew Barney's post-human hybrids, with glitch effects transitioning into robotic voices. The piece concludes the trilogy that includes Unitxt and Univrs, combining analytical deconstruction, natural evocations, ambient textures, and beat-driven glitch. The overall mood is dark, epic, and Ossianic, suggesting a new direction for Alva Noto's research into the uncanny and the hybrid future of humanity and technology.