I’MMATERIAL
Long-Durational Performance Art Series by Arda Cabaoglu Virtanen
I’MMATERIAL is an ongoing series of long-durational performance artworks that investigate performance as a condition of presence rather than representation. The project positions live artistic action as unstable, measurable, and physically contingent, where sound, time, endurance, and bodily awareness function as primary artistic materials.
Developed within the intersection of conceptual art, performance art, and experimental music practice, I’MMATERIAL examines how artistic intention unfolds under sustained duration and physical exposure. The works shift attention from musical outcome toward the act of performance itself, treating repetition, fatigue, breath, and perceptual fluctuation as structural components of the artwork.
Artistic Framework:
Rather than producing fixed musical objects, I’MMATERIAL operates through extended temporal structures in which performance becomes an evolving perceptual event. Duration is not a format but a compositional force. As time expands, the boundaries between control and instability, intention and bodily response, and sound and silence become increasingly visible.
The project explores:
Performance as material
Endurance and bodily presence
Perception and attention over time
The instability of live artistic action
The relationship between physical condition and artistic expression
Each iteration functions simultaneously as artwork and inquiry, situating the practice within artistic research and contemporary performance art discourse.
I’MMATERIAL No.1 — The Musical Lie Detector (2026-2027)
I’MMATERIAL No.1: The Musical Lie Detector is the first major work in the series, integrating physiological measurement into long-duration performance. The project examines how internal bodily responses coexist with outward artistic control, framing performance as a site where intention, perception, and physical reality intersect.
The work is developed as an interdisciplinary artistic research project in collaboration with a team of scientists during Cabaoglu Virtanen’s affiliation as a Visiting Artist at Aalto University (Helsinki), and is supported by the Kone Foundation.
By incorporating physiological signals as part of the artistic material and archival structure of the work, I’MMATERIAL No.1 expands the boundaries of performance documentation, artistic presence, and embodied research.
Relation to Long-Durational Performance Practice
I’MMATERIAL builds upon Cabaoglu Virtanen’s long-durational performance history, including sustained daily performance formats and extended temporal structures presented in museum and interdisciplinary contexts. The series continues a trajectory of examining endurance, repetition, and perceptual transformation through live artistic action.
Previous durational work includes:
Forced Misophonia: BLAST, BLOW, PULSE (2020)
A 4.5-week long-duration performance presented within a curatorial framework connected to the Marina Abramović Institute at Sakıp Sabancı Museum, performed in 8-hour daily cycles.
This earlier work established the methodological foundation for I’MMATERIAL’s exploration of sustained presence and artistic endurance.
Artistic Research Context
I’MMATERIAL operates within the field of artistic research, where performance functions simultaneously as artistic production and investigative process. The project bridges conceptual performance art, embodied practice, and interdisciplinary research methodologies, engaging with questions of temporality, perception, and artistic authenticity.
The works are documented through video, physiological data (in specific iterations), audio recordings, and written reflection, forming a long-term artistic archive rather than a single performance outcome.
Ongoing Development (2025–2029)
I’MMATERIAL is conceived as a multi-year performance series, with each iteration exploring a distinct dimension of long-duration artistic practice, including perception, embodiment, measurement, and presence under sustained temporal conditions.
Future works in the series will continue to expand interdisciplinary collaboration, documentation strategies, and research-based performance formats across artistic and institutional contexts.
Documentation & Media
Selected video documentation, recordings, and research materials related to I’MMATERIAL and associated long-durational performance works will be available within the Portfolio Page, and upon request for curators, institutions, researchers, and collaborators.