THE SUTHERLAND TEST
IMMERSIVE THEATRE · 2025
The Sutherland test is an immersive performance at the crossroads of theater and digital arts. Organized in a public space, it brings together 16 participants responding to the invitation of a startup specializing in transcendence technologies. The participants are there to test their brand new revolutionary immersion device: the BUD (Black Up Display), a polysensory optical occultation prosthesis. Thanks to these diverted Virtual Reality (VR) headsets, they will discover the true intentions of the group that supervises them, gradually realizing that they are now at the heart of a process aimed at convincing them that human vision is doomed.
With the Sutherland test, the artist extends his reflections on the concepts of “Altered Reality” and “disnovation”, and takes a critical look at the techno-solutionist ideology infused in our society. While big tech promises to extricate us from the physical world to access an augmented world, this performance advocates just the opposite. It provokes a slowing down of the body, a sensory release to better reinvest the real once the experience is over.
FORMAT
In two acts, indoors / public space · 80 min · 16 participants · 4 performers
More info https://vesm.info/
PRESS
XRmust, Le test Sutherland (2025)
VERSIONS
2027 - Italian version with Sardegna Teatro, Cagliari, Italy (in development)
05.2026 - Cantonese version - Artocrite Theatre, French May Arts Festival, Hong Kong, China
09.2025 - Spanish premiere - L.E.V. Matadero, Madrid, Spain
2024 - Prototype, Biennale Chroniques, Marseille, France
With the Sutherland test, the artist extends his reflections on the concepts of “Altered Reality” and “disnovation”, and takes a critical look at the techno-solutionist ideology infused in our society. While big tech promises to extricate us from the physical world to access an augmented world, this performance advocates just the opposite. It provokes a slowing down of the body, a sensory release to better reinvest the real once the experience is over.
FORMAT
In two acts, indoors / public space · 80 min · 16 participants · 4 performers
More info https://vesm.info/
PRESS
XRmust, Le test Sutherland (2025)
VERSIONS
2027 - Italian version with Sardegna Teatro, Cagliari, Italy (in development)
05.2026 - Cantonese version - Artocrite Theatre, French May Arts Festival, Hong Kong, China
09.2025 - Spanish premiere - L.E.V. Matadero, Madrid, Spain
2024 - Prototype, Biennale Chroniques, Marseille, France
ARTISTIC DIRECTION
Adelin Schweitzer
WRITE & PLAY
Fred Sechet & Adelin Schweitzer
DRAMATURGY
Marion Vincent
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
Gaëtan Parseihian
SOUND DESIGN
Gaëtan Parseihian
ELECTRONICS
Robert Kieffer
CO-PRODUCTION
Ososphère, Les laboratoires deletere
PARTNERS & SUPPORTS
Région Grand Est, Ville de Marseille, Région Sud, Dark Euphoria
Adelin Schweitzer
WRITE & PLAY
Fred Sechet & Adelin Schweitzer
DRAMATURGY
Marion Vincent
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
Gaëtan Parseihian
SOUND DESIGN
Gaëtan Parseihian
ELECTRONICS
Robert Kieffer
CO-PRODUCTION
Ososphère, Les laboratoires deletere
PARTNERS & SUPPORTS
Région Grand Est, Ville de Marseille, Région Sud, Dark Euphoria