A series of audiovisual performances set inside a sprawling exhibition area at the Nxt Museum in Amsterdam underscores the role of physical space in creating immersive entertainment environments.

Key features 

Hunger to Create, an audiovisual showcase during Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE), an annual festival and music conference dedicated to electronic music, brought together experimental soundscapes with corresponding visuals, creating an immersive and sensory spatial experience of music and visual art at the Nxt Museum in Amsterdam. Performances included a DJ and visual jockey act by Dasha Rush, a DJ set by Spekki Webu accompanied by visuals from artist Matti Vilho and a show by Vân Anh. Each performance blended live electronic experimentation and exploratory visuals, transforming the 370-sq-m multi-plane projection surface into a canvas for audiovisual artistry. The shows explored different themes, diving into topics such as existence, nature and identity, using visuals and bespoke soundtracks.

FRAME’s take 

‘ADE is of course a dance music festival, and there are so many events focused exclusively on dance music,’ says DJ Dasha Rush, who performed live at the event. ‘But more and more, club culture involves different disciplines, such as visual arts. Electronic music can be much more than just club music, and the visual aspect at Nxt Museum emphasizes that part.’ Live shows have become about so much more than just providing experiences that transcend the one-directional delivery of a live performance to an audience, with performances from U2, The 1975 and Lana del Rey, a testament to the shift in how live music is experienced. Artists increasingly use space to bolster their performances, leaning into the engagement of the senses to craft immersive environments. Hunger to Create underscores this trend, demonstrating the power of engaging the senses in designing immersive, memorable and powerful entertainment experiences. Experimental in its nature, the performance can serve as a blueprint for how designers can use multisensorial tools to bolster the design of physical entertainment environments and beyond, its essence has potential application in other spatial typologies such as retail and hospitality.