TABOO - TRANSGRESSION - TRANSCENDENCE

The ReVerie AI Performance explores the scientific concept of dream reliving, and translates whispered dream recollections into real-time visualizations of dream objects using a 3D generative diffusion model, allowing participants to explore a shared “dreamscape”.

During the performance, visitors engage in a ritualistic act of whispering their dreams. Each dream transcription and corresponding visualization are temporarily collected in the memory of the AI system. ReVerie then retrieves from this memory to generate a collective, dynamic visual journey where participants navigate through interlinked dream objects within a virtual space.

At its core, ReVerie challenges the capacity of technology to authentically represent the intangible and private terrain of dreams. By inviting participants to contribute whispered dreams that are algorithmically transformed into 3D visuals, ReVerie turns dreams into a public, collective experience, pushing viewers to confront whether such digitally synthesized representations can capture the true essence of our subconscious—or craft new forms of detachment or control over personal narratives.

Historically, dream interpretation has been wielded as a tool of power, such as in imperial China, where dreams were used to legitimize political ideologies, or in Mesopotamia and Egypt, where they were seen as messages from divine realms, shaping collective beliefs and societal behavior. This parallels our time, where state actors deploy mass social engineering to shape the collective subconscious, with synthesized content and targeted misinformation through generative AI and social media. This modern approach continues the age-old use of subconscious influence, now heightened by digital means that penetrate individual and societal realities.

Through this juxtaposition, ReVerie underscores how modern AI, with its generative and interpretive capacities, can either challenge or perpetuate subconscious control. By allowing participants to co-create in an open dreamscape, ReVerie offers an alternate route—a reclaiming of agency, where individuals contribute to a living, evolving collective dream that resists singular interpretations.