The Cloud

The Cloud is a performance that explores the natural/artificial phenomena of a cloud and its complex material and symbolical relation to human agency. Zaides and his collaborators reflect on how, much like natural clouds, many aspects of new technologies elude our full understanding and integration into daily life, particularly highlighting the elusive and expansive nature of artificial intelligence.

The piece also weaves in the notion of "hyperobjects," a term coined by American philosopher Timothy Morton to describe phenomena or entities that are vast in scale and complexity, exceeding human comprehension and posing significant ecological threats, such as nuclear energy or climate change.
Onstage, performers navigate a vibrant and intricate setup that blends video, archival materials, sound, lighting, text, and movement while critically examining the potential for global collapse in the Anthropocene era.

Ultimately, The Cloud proposes an unexpected hybridisation between documentary and phantasmic aspects of its concerns and its dispositive: demonstrating what it wants to consider, and considering what it wants to demonstrate, in a real time of the stage performance.