V.I.B.E - Viral Ideology Broadcast Experiment

Caitlin van Bommel, Giulia Timis, Elena Zaghis & August Kaasa Sundgaard, 2025

Created by Caitlin van Bommel, Giulia Timis, Elena Zaghis & August Kaasa Sundgaard
Collaborators: Shao-Chun Hsu (fabrication), Claudio Castro Chaponan (coding)
Pictures: Shao-Chun Hsu

Supported by IMPAKT and Werktank, realized as part of CODE 2025, organized by IMPAKT [Utrecht], Werktank [Leuven], Privacy Salon / CPDP [Brussels], NØ SCHOOL [Nevers], and Kunsthal Mechelen [Mechelen], with financial support from Creative Industries Fund NL, the City of Utrecht, and the Flemish Community.

V.I.B.E 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.