Performances

Ben Glas’s performance Cognitive Dissonance is a participatory composition in which all volunteer participants are given a word that they are to repeat in any way they choose, entirely at their own discretion. Each person receives a different word, thereby unfolding a nonlinear narrative or semantic landscape that we create and dissolve together as a group. The aim of the piece is to explore a sonic space for semantic saturation—a psychological phenomenon in which a constantly repeated word temporarily loses its meaning. A surreal effect emerges, and listeners are encouraged to walk through the space and establish linguistic connections with other speakers, thereby discovering seemingly magical possibilities.

Selma Lindgren’s performance Smoke in Mirrors is a magic show that explores the theme of trust. One could argue that trust is the greatest magic trick of all time. Once it’s there, anything seems possible. People agree to experimental treatments, large sums of money are put on the table, and a simple, three-letter word—“yes”—is spoken, binding two people together, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. The show asks: Who can we trust in a world of growing uncertainty, where systemic crises complicate our shared understanding of reality? What is a promise really worth? And do we trust a magician to tackle such questions?
Text collaboration and outside eye: Louis Vincent Platzer.

Ben Glas (he/him) is an experience-oriented composer based in Berlin. Through ephemeral compositions, Glas explores preconceived notions of the difference between passive and active listening in his work. In search of open musical forms and pragmatic listening perspectives, Glas’s compositions focus on the realms of subjective perception and cognition, employing acoustics, psychoacoustics, and space as tools of sound composition. His works have been exhibited and performed worldwide, including at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA), the Radiophrenia Festival in Glasgow, the Soundwave Biennial (SF), and the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA). He holds a B.F.A. from PNCA and an M.A. from UdK. He contributed to sound recording and editing for Folks Press as part of the Dada variety show The Late Now. His performance piece UNTITLED (°45.536693 °-122.665898 13.08.2017 22:40)—a multichannel composition featuring seven performers—was presented at PICA’s Time-Based Arts Festival in Portland. Glas also had a solo exhibition titled A Social Harmony at Ohrenhoch! Der Geräuschladen in Berlin, and his works were featured in the 2018 group exhibition Post Human: The 5th International Exhibition on New Media at CICA.

Selma Lindgren (she/her) currently works primarily under the name Lex Hymer. The set and costume design trio creates works in varying configurations for both established theaters and opera houses as well as the independent theater scene. Collaborations have included projects at the Vienna State Opera, Theater Münster, Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen, Schlosstheater Moers, Theater Basel, Semperoper Dresden, and Kampnagel. She studied scenography at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and graduated in 2024 with the performance POUFF…! The Greatest Magic Show in the World of All Time. This was followed in the same year by the performance POUFF…! Conference of Magic at the Gropius Bau in Berlin as part of the exhibition Happiness Isn’t Always Fun, and in 2025 by POUFF…! An Exercise in Reality at the Theater Nestroyhof.
Smoke in Mirrors is the fourth work in the series with a focus on magic. She lives in Vienna.