

For the project "The Intelligence of Machines," the financial collapse that happened during May 6th, 2010 (known as "flash crash") has been translated into sound. During the event, the Dow Jones index dropped about a thousand points in over 36 minutes, and Wall Street lost $800 billion of value in a half hour. Contrary to what was declared, the cause does not seem to be an error of artificial intelligence. But might have been a case of deliberate market manipulations done by high-frequency traders (HFT), entering the stock exchange with an enormous number of erroneous quotes.
The music is composed by three violins and one electronic composition. The violin scores are given by the sonification, between 14.00 and 15.00 hour, of the collapse of the American Electric Power (AEP) stock price in three different exchanges, the PACF, the NYSE, and the NSDQ. The volume of the electronic piece is set on the number of transactions that happened at the same hour, and it is inspired by videogames sounds and digital interferences.
The music goes with a performance where a dancer interprets a choreography inspired by movements of the main characters of some of the most popular video games.
The project sees the collaboration of the musicians Francesco Dani and Sebastiano Aleo, of the violinist Stefano Antonello, of the performer Elisa di Paola.
The Intelligence of Machines, Performance at MAR, Ravenna, Italy, 2018;