Resonant Blech

The performative human–AI collaboration project, Resonant Blech, will be presented at the 12th annual international conference of the School of Performing Arts at the University of Malta.
About the conference
The conference is titled Vanishing Acts: Artificial Intelligence, Performative Knowledge, Sustainable Memory and will take place from 25 to 27 March 2026. It brings together international researchers and artists to explore the ways in which AI is reshaping creative processes, performance practices, and archival cultures.

As part of the official conference programme, Resonant Blech will be performing on the main stage on Thursday evening (26 March 2026).
Curved and folded steel sheets (known as 'Blech') act as resonant bodies. Sound is generated through piezo transducer feedback loops that actuate the metal surfaces. Human performers select which steel objects to activate and how to play them. The AI system participates by shaping and actuating the feedback structures alongside them. Rather than responding to sound input, the AI co-performs by engaging with the composers' evolving performative decisions.

The result is a distributed system of agency between human performers, AI processes and vibrating steel — an embodied dialogue in which vibration is the primary means of communication.

Team:  Zeynep Aksöz Balzar, Lea Karnutsch, Nicolaj Kirisits, Alexander Urban 

Conference Website
Performance
Performance
26. March 2026, 20:30 - 21:00
University of Malta, Msida MSD 2080, Malta