V.I.B.E (Viral Ideology Broadcast Experiment) explores the rise of “vibe culture” as a dominant mode of sense-making in the post-truth era, through a speculative electoral campaign and interactive installation. In a media landscape characterized by algorithmic bubbles and short-form video content, rational discourse is being threatened by ambiently spread propaganda—vibes. Critically engaging with the memetic strategies of contemporary far-right movements, the project investigates how hyper-online weaponized aesthetics normalize violence and advance authoritarianism through affectual manipulation.

We want to respond by exaggerating this logic with the creation of a physical installation consisting of a voting booth, screens, merch, and election ephemera. The screens will play incoherent, fragmented videos that draw from social media content and internet aesthetics: anime, angels, and cute visuals polluted with references to violence, fascism, and fringe extremist ideologies. It will be an audiovisual overload, an assault on the senses with no clear arguments – just “vibes” to absorb.

The goal is to stage an affective experience of contemporary political communication (ambient propaganda) – one where ideology is ambient, nonlinear, and memetic. Visitors won’t leave with answers or positions, but with a gut-level sense of how aesthetics, algorithms, and content overload shape belief today.

Collaborators: Shao-Chun Hsu (fabrication), Claudio Castro Chaponan (coding).

These works have been realized during CODE 25, an annual co-creation project, where participants were asked to raise awareness about digital rights through dialogue, critical discussions, and artistic interventions. The program is supported by IMPAKT (Utrecht), in collaboration with Werktank, NØ SCHOOL, PrivacySalon, and Kunsthal Mechelen.

Image by Shao-Chun Hsu