~~ Not Breaking ~~
~~ This Wave Drowns Hate ~~ is an innovative performance by acclaimed artist Kat Austen that explores humanity’s evolving relationship with the ocean in the age of the polycrisis.
Combining wearable technology, dynamic choreography, and AI-generated visuals, Austen transforms into a cyborg traveler— an embodiment of the hybrid human-nature-digital ecologies that define our time. The performance immerses the audience in a living soundscape drawn from audio recordings along Ireland’s coast and workshops with local communities around Galway.
As Austen moves, her choreography weaves together field recordings, compositions and voice, creating a vivid sonic tapestry that transcends boundaries between ocean and coast, urban and rural, natural and artificial, physical and digital, real and speculative. The AI-driven visuals unfold into future hopes for coastlines in a post-plastic world, inviting audiences to envision a more symbiotic, reparative, and thriving future.
Credits
This work was commissioned within the framework of the S+T+ARTS 4Water II residency programme by ADAPT Centre at Dublin City University and Beta Festival, produced by Culture Works, with the support of Port of Galway, Galway Culture Company, Galway City Council and the S+T+ARTS programme of the European Union. Supported by iii instrumentinventors.org and Waves of Change funded by the Marine Institute.
Artist: Kat Austen
Digital Artist and Technological Coordinator: Daniel Hengst
AI Researchers: Sarmad Khan, Shubhanker Banerjee, Boualem Benatallah, ADAPT
Community Partners: Access for All Galway, Galway City Partnership, University of Galway, Scoil Bhríde Shantalla, Galway Hooker Sailing Club, Interface Inagh
Vision Contributors:
Maeve Kernan, Maria Buckley, Time, Ciaran Oliver, Susanne Lally, Bartley Fannin, eclaire, Teanasea, Marina Postir, Cormac Ó Gibne, Oksana, Yermolieva, Yana Diadchuk, Alona, Flanna Bell, Olena Tolkachenko, Kateryna Samko, Elvira Sieitabla, Kostiantyn Aleksandrov, Josh Cuskelly, Sean McManus, AJ, Dobrusia, Niamh Snowdon, Erin Smith, Ailbhe Whyte, Leon McAleenan, Linda Schirmer, Breda Burns, Laney Mannion, Natasha Johnson