Dust of days: Oliviero Toscani

A Sound Composition by COB (1994) & Giovanni Ambrosio for Assenti Assenti

Dust of Days – Oliviero Toscani is a sound composition created by COB for the live performance and installation Assenti Assenti. The piece was built around a text composed by Giovanni Ambrosio, initially generated using AI processes, and then transformed into a fully produced audio piece as part of the show’s layered sonic archive.

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Voices, Media, and the Visual Machine

This composition revolves around a critical reflection on media culture, authorship, and representation, blending recorded fragments of Oliviero Toscani’s voice with digital sound textures and musical elements. It echoes questions around:

• The commodification of identity and image

• The contradiction between visual truth and media manipulation

• The obsessive desire for visibility in contemporary culture

COB (1994) deconstructs Toscani’s statements into a rhythmic, almost hypnotic vocal loop, where the voice becomes instrument, critique, and atmosphere.

A Sonic Companion to Assenti Assenti

This sound piece is part of the Assenti Assenti performance and installation, a project built on extradisciplinary sonic layering, low-fi devices, archival sources, and hybrid gestures. Dust of Days – Oliviero Toscani stands as one of its core sound pillars, alongside compositions like Dust of Days and voice-driven live mixes curated by Christian Taranto and Antonio Marano.

Image: Courtesy of © Angela Sodano and Vesuvio Adventures.