We have never been more connected - and never more alone. Social media has created a paradox: algorithms feed us content that confirms our views, gradually closing us off in comfort bubbles where we no longer have to confront anything unfamiliar, different or uncomfortable. Overexposed turns this paradox inside out and asks what happens when the algorithm steps out of the screen and into the streets.

This site-specific work by Adriana Štefaňáková is a live, interactive performance unfolding directly in busy urban spaces. It explores how screens and social networks reshape our everyday interactions and weaken real human connection. It reflects our growing dependence on the digital world and the phenomenon of overexposure - a state in which people share things they would never reveal in the offline world.

What do we lose in the process? Perhaps the ability to be present. When we encounter someone interesting on the street, instead of stopping, we reach for our phones. We filter reality through a screen - and in doing so, we flatten it. What do we gain? An illusion of control. We believe we can choose what we see, who we talk to and how we present ourselves. But this control is false - in reality, the algorithm is choosing for us.

The performers appear as living avatars - exaggerated, explicit versions of identities we carefully present online. At first, they inhabit the space almost unnoticed. Gradually, they step into the city’s flow, blurring the line between performance and everyday life. There is no clear beginning or end - the performance unfolds spontaneously, much like the unpredictable life of the street.

What happens when a carefully curated identity is placed in the street, where no one likes it? Where people respond with bodies, glances and awkwardness? Where you cannot delete a comment, because that comment is a living person standing face to face with you? It is precisely in this discomfort - in a chance encounter with someone completely different - that something alive begins to emerge.

The performance is also a research into physical interaction between people who usually pass each other by as strangers. Its aim is to awaken curiosity, remind us of the value of real encounters and create situations in which people can inspire one another - even through differing opinions and ways of perceiving the world. The dance language is raw and physically urgent, built on trust and bodily closeness.

Overexposed is a unique combination of dance, technology and social research. It enriches public space and opens up a discussion about dependence, algorithms and human connection. A reflection of a time in which we are fighting to be seen - and forgetting how to truly be together.

Adriana Štefaňáková is a prominent talent of the Czech dance scene. She graduated from the Dance Conservatory of Prague and studied contemporary dance at Codarts in Rotterdam. As a performer, she has collaborated with companies such as Tantehorse and DEKKADANCERS, as well as with choreographer Miřenka Čechová. In her own work, she combines dance with visual art, exploring themes of identity, privacy and the influence of the digital world. Her projects include Luminous Daisies (presented at TANEC PRAHA 2025) and the award-winning dance film Insanity. In 2026, she became artist-in-residence at PONEC - dance venue.

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