From 4 to 7 April 2024, an innovative exhibition-playground organised by NABA came to life within the Ex Cisterne spaces at Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan, transforming them into a dynamic environment of experimentation and research dedicated to creative media production. The 2024 edition of PLAI, curated by Michele Aquila (NABA MA in Creative Media Production Course Leader), presented to the public projects developed by students of the MA in Creative Media Production, where digital met analogue within a dynamic laboratory of experimentation, supported by the BA in Set Design and with contributions from the BA in Film and Animation.
The event anticipated the dialogue between bodily practices and innovative technologies that would later characterise the MA in Digital and Live Performance, recently introduced into the Academy’s educational offer. PLAI 2024 therefore established itself as a unique opportunity to explore the forefront of creative experimentation — through an interplay of performances, multimedia installations, video art, documentaries, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence projects, workshops and talks — offering a concrete representation of the digital artistic production developed within the Academy and opening to the public an ongoing research process in continuous evolution.
As explained by Michele Aquila himself, the 2024 exhibition was conceived as a playground in which the boundaries between physical and digital, material and immaterial, were explored in a constant search for new expressive forms. Particular attention was devoted to the role of artificial intelligence within creative processes, presenting an unprecedented mediascape in which everything becomes possible.
The opening of PLAI 2024 on 4 April marked one of the most intense moments of the edition, shaping an experience in which scientific research, sound and image intertwined in a radical way. The evening opened with “Codex Naturae”, a live set by Giorgio Sancristoforo (NABA Lecturer), who presented a multimedia performance based on the phonosomic code, a system for the numerical translation and sonification of DNA nucleotide sequences developed at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. In “Codex Naturae”, the genome became a programming language: the architecture of the instruments and the musical score were generated from nucleotide triplets, transforming biological data into a performative structure in which music, imagery and scientific information merged into a single immersive environment.
Among the works presented during PLAI 2024, a central role was played by the multimedia installation created in collaboration with Careof, a non-profit organisation dedicated to contemporary art. The collaboration, initiated by Lorenza Pignatti (writer and NABA Lecturer) and Michele Aquila, involved students from the course Digital Applications for Art, led by lecturers Vinicio Bordin, Filippo Marta, Paolo Ranieri and Rino Stefano Tagliafierro (of the multimedia design studio Karmachina). The project developed from the analysis of a selection of materials from Careof’s video archive, resulting in an installation that brought imaginaries and practices from different eras into dialogue.
Within the installation, the documentary language of Mario Gorni, founder of Careof — who used video to document the Italian art scene — entered into dialogue with the perspective of new generations: students reinterpreted historical footage through generative artificial intelligence software and special effects, emphasising the visual decay of VHS recordings and transforming it into expressive material. The video and audio sources spanned exhibitions and projects realised from the 1970s to the present day by artists and curators such as Grazia Toderi, Nico Vascellari, Germano Celant, Marina Abramović, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Maria Gloria Bicocchi and Alfredo Jaar. The project was developed in collaboration with Marta Bianchi and Marta Cereda, Directors of Careof.
Over the following days, PLAI 2024 established itself as a vibrant environment for dialogue and experimentation, thanks to laboratories, workshops, and talks dedicated to the evolution of digital production and the most advanced practices in the field. Students, NABA lecturers and invited guests actively participated in sessions focused on Virtual Reality, gaming, expanded cinema and artificial intelligence, transforming the exhibition into a shared research space and a platform for continuous exchange.
Returning to the dialogue between bodily practices and innovative technologies previously mentioned, the activities proposed by the exhibition-playground on 6 April focused on the languages and multidisciplinarity of performing arts, addressing contemporary themes and spaces through dramaturgy, the body, new technologies and sound design. The programme concluded with the performance “Showing on Digital Liveness” by Fabien Prioville and Francesca Ciaffoni, an immersive experience that engaged the audience in exploring the meaning of the human body within an increasingly digital landscape. The performance was realised thanks to the expertise and technologies of the Media Design and New Technologies Area laboratories at NABA, under the guidance of Emanuele Lomello (Media Laboratory Manager).
The exhibition design of PLAI 2024 was curated by students from the BA in Set Design, under the supervision of lecturers Filippo Marta and Francesca Guarnone. Students from the MA in Creative Media Production also developed the exhibition's visual identity and the programme of talks and workshops, coordinated by lecturer Eleonora Roaro.
PLAI 2024 extended beyond the physical space through an immersive catalogue curated by student Yue Zhao and published on the New Art City platform. This online format enabled wider audiences to explore the exhibition's content digitally, expanding access to the presented projects.
Area: Media Design and New Technologies - Set Design