Zona Martiska is a journey into the unexplored architecture of the greenhouse of Castello de la Mandria, located one hour away from Torino. Three dancers and one sonar robot guide the audience in exploring the space, generating a constantly changing soundscape. Technology is an investigative tool in their service, giving life to sound and movement through simple gestures. The performers lead the audience through a hybrid choreography in a space that once served as a former breeding ground for superior female horses and as an unfinished greenhouse project. 

In Zona Martiska, a technological system developed ad hoc generates a new kind of interaction between music, architecture, and the human body. The system comprises a network of wearable devices and a sonar robot that measures various distances in space. Sensors collect real-time data on the building’s conditions and the movement of both performers and audience members. These inputs are then translated into sound. Zona Martiska evolves with every performance, depending on how artists and visitors choose to explore the space, resulting in unique and ever-changing sound compositions.

Freely inspired by Andrej Tarkovskij’s film “Stalker”, Zona Martiska creates a world in a bubble, where reality and fiction merge, and the body is deconstructed within the architectural heritage. The space becomes resistant; a landscape of power unfolds, where natural forces and human actions clash.