WHITE, Alastair : #CAPITAL

For soprano, synthesizer and drum machine.

Duration 15′.

Alastair White’s new fashion-opera, #CAPITAL, is to open Metaverse Fashion Week 2023. The work will be performed within a bespoke fashion-opera house, the “House of Synergos,” designed by Sybarite architects — whose niche specialism is experiential retail. Taking place within Metaverse Labs’ platform Dragon City, the piece features the digital fashion of Winter Olympics brand CHENPENG curated by the fashion week’s ambassador Gemma A. Williams. It is performed by Kelly Poukens (“a soprano in a thousand” — Klassiek Centraal) and danced by Zara Sands (“extraordinary” — North West End) with sound production by Pieter Franssen. The opera is supported by TONG, who are running a series of events within the venue including a showcase of Victor Wong’s digital fashion and panel discussion with CHENPENG.

#CAPITAL is a tale of dematerialization and symbolism: from the first time someone exchanged a token for an object, or a symbol — a word — for a being in the world — all the way through gold bars and bank notes, or the virtual reality of art — to Web3, avatars and Dragon City itself. It is the story of becoming something else — where everything is always possible.