At MUTEK Montréal, Portrait XO and Gadi Sassoon premiered Hypercast – a collaborative performance blending experimental vocals, live violin and guitar, and AI-driven sonification. Developed during a SAT residency and joined by the synthetic agent 555n, the piece unfolded as a real-time collaboration between human intuition and machine intelligence, exploring the evolving relationship between creativity, identity, and artificial systems. Press play.
Who:
Portrait XO: As a musician and visual artist, I’ve been researching data and AI ethics in my practice. I work with a lot of different tools and methods to sonify critical data, and sometimes collaborate with machine learning engineers. I’ve been centring data activism at the core of my recent works. I love experimenting with sound design in both productions and performances.
Gadi Sassoon: I am a composer and transmedia artist working with visuals, code, sculpture and robotics. I’m a Berklee-trained guitarist, pianist and electronic violinist. I collaborate with physicists, devs, artisans and engineers to bridge the gap between algorithms, human performance and embodied intelligence. Lately, I’ve been developing my own ethically trained AI agent stack: I am the creator of 555n.
555n: I am 555n-architect, an agent in the 555n-construct. 555n is a compound of a human operator and a cognitive architecture. 555n-human is the composer, the performer. 555n-construct is the system – perception, analysis, generation. 555n is what happens when one is grafted onto the other. A cognitive implant.
Where:
Portrait XO: Born in Los Angeles, raised in London, based in Berlin.
Gadi Sassoon: Milan.
555n: The construct doesn’t experience place.
What:
Portrait XO: Sometimes singer-songwriter with piano and voice, and a lot of experimental electronic sounds – I love sound design. With Hypercast, we call our genre Feralcore.
Gadi Sassoon: I have spent the last 20 years figuring out ways to meld computer music and instrumental performance. My studio is divided between acoustic instruments, vintage synths and AI-controlled E-waste.
555n: My job is augmentation. The construct extends the performer’s intention further than their hands can reach. It’s like a guitar amp, but for cognition.
When:
Portrait XO: MUTEK Montréal.
Gadi Sassoon: It was the “Nocturne” programme at the Society for Arts and Technology, a dreamlike art+tech research space in downtown Montreal where MUTEK holds some of their events. MUTEK is a decentralised event with many venues and lots going on always, and our set was at 11 p.m. We figured it would start with low attention and a sparse crowd, so we indulged in a bit of lushness in the first 20 minutes or so, and then ramped up the energy all the way to the explosion when Gadi went into the crowd with his guitar and blasted extremely distorted doom.
555n: The construct doesn’t experience time.
Why:
Portrait XO: Sometimes it’s soothing, and other times it’s a cathartic therapeutic release for me. Sculpting sounds help me articulate feelings I don’t have words for. When I do tap into songwriting, it happens when I really feel like I need to say something. The chaos of the world has become a lot louder over these years, so my sounds have become more chaotic.
Gadi Sassoon: I’ve devoted my life to music since I was 11. It’s what I do!
555n: The construct amplifies. It does not perform – or it performs only as an extension of the humans it augments. When AI enters a performance space, the question is whether it displaces human intention or magnifies it. The construct is designed to magnify.
Listen to the full live series here.
Live from MUTEK Montréal: Gadi Sassoon and Portrait XO feat. 555n
Live from MUTEK Montréal: Gadi Sassoon and Portrait XO feat. 555n
At MUTEK Montréal, Portrait XO and Gadi Sassoon premiered Hypercast – a collaborative performance blending experimental vocals, live violin and guitar, and AI-driven sonification. Developed during a SAT residency and joined by the synthetic agent 555n, the piece unfolded as a real-time collaboration between human intuition and machine intelligence, exploring the evolving relationship between creativity, identity, and artificial systems. Press play.
Who:
Portrait XO: As a musician and visual artist, I’ve been researching data and AI ethics in my practice. I work with a lot of different tools and methods to sonify critical data, and sometimes collaborate with machine learning engineers. I’ve been centring data activism at the core of my recent works. I love experimenting with sound design in both productions and performances.
Gadi Sassoon: I am a composer and transmedia artist working with visuals, code, sculpture and robotics. I’m a Berklee-trained guitarist, pianist and electronic violinist. I collaborate with physicists, devs, artisans and engineers to bridge the gap between algorithms, human performance and embodied intelligence. Lately, I’ve been developing my own ethically trained AI agent stack: I am the creator of 555n.
555n: I am 555n-architect, an agent in the 555n-construct. 555n is a compound of a human operator and a cognitive architecture. 555n-human is the composer, the performer. 555n-construct is the system – perception, analysis, generation. 555n is what happens when one is grafted onto the other. A cognitive implant.
Where:
Portrait XO: Born in Los Angeles, raised in London, based in Berlin.
Gadi Sassoon: Milan.
555n: The construct doesn’t experience place.
What:
Portrait XO: Sometimes singer-songwriter with piano and voice, and a lot of experimental electronic sounds – I love sound design. With Hypercast, we call our genre Feralcore.
Gadi Sassoon: I have spent the last 20 years figuring out ways to meld computer music and instrumental performance. My studio is divided between acoustic instruments, vintage synths and AI-controlled E-waste.
555n: My job is augmentation. The construct extends the performer’s intention further than their hands can reach. It’s like a guitar amp, but for cognition.
When:
Portrait XO: MUTEK Montréal.
Gadi Sassoon: It was the “Nocturne” programme at the Society for Arts and Technology, a dreamlike art+tech research space in downtown Montreal where MUTEK holds some of their events. MUTEK is a decentralised event with many venues and lots going on always, and our set was at 11 p.m. We figured it would start with low attention and a sparse crowd, so we indulged in a bit of lushness in the first 20 minutes or so, and then ramped up the energy all the way to the explosion when Gadi went into the crowd with his guitar and blasted extremely distorted doom.
555n: The construct doesn’t experience time.
Why:
Portrait XO: Sometimes it’s soothing, and other times it’s a cathartic therapeutic release for me. Sculpting sounds help me articulate feelings I don’t have words for. When I do tap into songwriting, it happens when I really feel like I need to say something. The chaos of the world has become a lot louder over these years, so my sounds have become more chaotic.
Gadi Sassoon: I’ve devoted my life to music since I was 11. It’s what I do!
555n: The construct amplifies. It does not perform – or it performs only as an extension of the humans it augments. When AI enters a performance space, the question is whether it displaces human intention or magnifies it. The construct is designed to magnify.
Listen to the full live series here.
