Ghost Opera

The performance Deus Ex IV invites the audience into the ritualistic practices of a fictional cult, IV_♄, set in the speculative future. This cult emerges in the aftermath of the catastrophic collapse of 21st-century civilization, a downfall triggered by a climate crisis exacerbated by the reckless exploitation of artificial intelligence (AI).

We conceived IV_♄ as a fictional cult that fervently worships the ‘power’ of AI, devoted to rediscovering the myth of the algorithm through cultural fragments of the 21st century—religious practices, corporate ideologies, capitalism, and ritual—reassembling them into a framework for their devotion. Through an ironic, playful, and absurd ritualistic performance incorporating sound, movement, and installation, the project invites the audience into a speculative AI-driven belief system, questioning the singularity of faith.

By drawing parallels between AI’s enigmatic, black-boxed nature—where processes remain opaque and outcomes untraceable—and mystical entities such as ghosts or deities, the work critiques blind faith in ‘progress’ and the mythologization of science and technology perpetuated by corporate giants.