FHD Video + Stereo Sound | 00:21:32 | 2024

Silistrato is conceived as the conceptual and epistemological fusion of silicon and substrate, referring to the question of substrate independence that, from the perspective of General Artificial Intelligence, raises the problem of mind–body separability and the possibility of implementing artificial consciousness in any medium. Set within a speculative, post-anthropocentric future, the work follows a sentient machinic entity programmed to traverse desolate landscapes decades after 80% of the planet’s water has become sterile—chemically transformed beyond biological survival. Its single purpose: to search for traces of life and discover how to preserve it. Presented as a transmedia experimental video artwork, Silistrato invites viewers to become first-person witnesses to this solitary journey. By recontextualizing classical notions of utopia and dystopia, the work intertwines futurology, speculative research, and computer art to reflect critically on the potential realities of the Anthropocene age.

Edmar Soria hold a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Music Technology, an M.Sc. in Applied Economics, and a B.Sc. in Mathematics, with postdoctoral research in mathematics and artificial intelligence applied to audio and music, and certified studies in quantum computing. He has received multiple international awards, including the Acousmonium INA GRM Contest (France–Mexico, 2016), the Xenakis Electroacoustic Music Contest (Greece, 2023), and the URTIcanti Festival Best Photography Award (Italy, 2024). His work—spanning digital art, multichannel electroacoustic composition, and transmedia research—has been presented across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. As an academic, his research covers sound spatialization, AI applications in digital art, and the philosophy of technology. He has authored three books and co-edited two others, and is the founder and director of the International Colloquium Espacio Inmersividad and Desfases: Festival Inmersivo de Producción Multimedia.