Chronic Illness Sofia

Chronic Illness returns with an international edition in Sofia in collaboration with Synaesthesia Collective, continuing its movement across borders. Originally hosted in a London squatted sewage site, the series brings its distinct blend of experimental performance, sound, and media art to a new context.

This edition focuses on compulsive embodiments, discomfort of mediation, and breakdown of functional behaviour. Rather than presenting work as spectacle, the evening is framed as a space of rupture - where sound, gesture, and environment interact in unpredictable ways.

The doors will open at 20:00.

Live Performances

Chronic Illness Theatre ft. NeoFung & Laboranta

Piotr Bockowski, aka neofung, is a London-based philosopher of posthumanities, body performer and video artist. A curator of the Chronic Illness art events at a squatted sewage space, he has performed and shown his own work in Europe, China and the US. His art criticism and speculative fictions have been published in CLOT, Inertia, and Posthuman Magazine. He is the author of books published in English & Japanese, including: “Nekama” (Peach Spore Press), “Fungi Media” (Open Humanities Press) & “Feed the Hole” (穴に餌をやれ).

Marina Ichim, aka Laboranta, is a London-based extreme body practitioner , recently involved with performance art collectives & spaces: Young Boy Dancing Group, Chronic Illness Theatre & Metamorphika studios. She practices experimental dance & video, as well as avant-garde sound collages. Her short film “Ogled” about sex-trafficking of Eastern European women was presented at Post-Porn festival in Warsaw & Sadique festival in Paris.

The act "Office Wet Tech" is an assault on functional environment of contemporary technological existence by confronting it with excess physiology not accounted for by purpose-oriented designs. The act happens between two performers- a clerk (Fung Neo) & a secretary (Laboranta).

TROJANOVSKX

They are a London-based artist whose work explores the philosophical concept of duality, deconstructing its structures through the intersection of sound, light, movement, and technology. Their practice challenges the causality between movement and sound while examining the evolving relationship between the human body and machines. By employing cybernetic micro-systems, e-textiles, motion sensors, and digital interfaces, they craft immersive, interactive experiences that blur the boundaries between artist, artwork, and audience.

Over the past year and a half, their practice has expanded to incorporate motion capture interfaces and spatial sound installations, transforming body movement into real-time audio-visual compositions. By integrating motion sensors and digital control systems, they create responsive environments where human presence shapes sound and light patterns. Their performances often evoke ritualistic atmospheres with non-linear rhythmic structures. Recently, their work has ventured into cyberpunk aesthetics to explore the decomposition of identity, reflecting on how technology mediates physical presence and movement. This inquiry challenges the boundaries between human agency and machine autonomy, inviting audiences to question the role of technology in shaping modern embodiment. Recurring themes in TROJANOVSKX’s work include identity, abstraction, geometry, and spirituality. Through experimental soundscapes, bodily noise, and abstract visuals, they investigate the dynamic interplay between technology and the human form, fostering immersive, multi-sensory experiences that provoke shifting perceptions of presence and embodiment.

Adonai Atrophia

A dark ambient project based in Sofia. It's concept is to search for the origin of everything; to unite the human being from all parts scattered across time, space, and essence. It uses analog synthesizers, tape recorders, guitar effects, field recordings, a mixture of voice, and aims to create its own folklore. Authentic folklore comes from our essence, which in no way is bound to intellectuality - only when a person can look up and gaze into the sky with their true senses, unburdened by parasitic and pre-learned thoughts. In order to unite all of humanity into one, the essences and likenesses are extracted in the form of sound sampling from Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Iran, Turkey, Siberia, North Africa, and others. When performing live, AA aims to share impressions and soundscapes that are not burdened by associations and upbringing. These should be the same pure impressions, in order to achieve “seeing in the dark.” People like to have opinions, and this gives them the impression that they can interpret sound, poetry, visuals, and painting through their own experience - but herein lies the illusion. Everything pulses in its own rhythm, every system at a different scale - from microbe, to planet, to cluster. This pulsation does not depend on individual interpretation or beautiful opinion, but is a law that must be studied.

SNAKEATSNAKE

An emerging electronic music project known for its dark and hypnotic sound, inspired by underground sewers, nuclear bunkers, and secret military sites. The project blends elements of industrial, techno, and ambient music, creating an intense and atmospheric cyberpunk auditory experience. SNAKEATSNAKE has been gaining traction in the underground music scene, particularly in Europe, with performances at various venues across Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Spain, and France over the past year. SNAKEATSNAKE's live shows are particularly noteworthy for their immersive and almost ritualistic atmosphere, where heavy beats and eerie soundscapes collide.

Zamyarski

Zamyarski is a multimedia artist whose work spans a wide spectrum of themes and techniques, delving into the intricate relationship between sound and vision. Originally from Bulgaria - now a dweller in the shadowy fringes of London’s underground scene, his sonic output manifests as a dense, atmospheric miasma - a ritualistic blend of industrial echoes and dissonant textures. In this performance, he departs from the power electronics-driven sets of the past six months, venturing instead into ambient territory, accompanied by his virtual symphonic orchestra.

Additional Program

Film Screenings

Throughout the night three short films will be screened created by the Chronic Illness collective:

Ancestor Parasite consists of scenes that were performed as live acts during early editions of the event series, complemented by camera re-enactments at the event space. Bottom of the Well is part of an immersive ‘expanded cinema’ environment created for the basement happenings, where it was originally accompanied by live performance. Ogled is a film version of an act created specifically for a Chronic Illness event.

DJ Set by Laboranta

The night concludes with a special DJ set from Laboranta.

 

This event is strictly 18+.