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You can find out more about the donation-based crowdfunding campaign on the FEDORA Platform here.
€
FEDORA
Digital Prize 2025
Nominee
Yum!
Austria
Studio M.A.R.S.
Crowdfunding Results
€290
collected
€20,000
target
3
Number of donors
Pledge without a reward
For €30
A personalised thank-you video from the artistic team.
For €50
A personalized thank-you video from the artistic team, plus an exclusive digital artwork (NFT), featuring highly stylized imagery of Yum! food.
For €100
A personalized thank-you video from the artistic team, along with early access to the Yum! XR app for testing before its public release.
For €200
Guaranteed seating at the dining table for any performance (excluding the premiere), followed by a post-performance reception and a meet-and-greet with the artistic team and cast.
For €500
Guaranteed seating at the dining table (Premiere), a VIP virtual reality (VR) experience, exclusive VIP dishes during performance, and access to the post-performance reception with the artistic team and cast.
For €5,000
A private, bespoke Yum! experience for you and a guest, hosted by the artistic team and cast,
Special notice about recommending a donation:
You are about to make a donation to FEDORA, a French non-profit organisation, to support the crowdfunding campaign of the FEDORA Prizes Biennale 2025 on the FEDORA Platform. Donors can recommend a distribution of their donations to a specific nominated project, but FEDORA is in charge at its discretion to forward the funds to the Nominees.
Upon completing your donation, FEDORA or the Transnational Giving Europe Partner will provide you with more information regarding your donation receipt, allowing you to claim tax relief on your donation.
Please note that by donating online, you accept our Legal Notice (https://www.fedora-platform.com/more-infos/legal-notice).
Thank you for your generosity!
If you are a company or tax resident in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland or United Kingdom and do not wish to receive the associated crowdfunding benefits, you can receive a tax receipt instead. To do so, please click on “Pledge without a reward” and type in the amount you wish to donate.
Please note that according to the Charities Aid Foundation, UK residents can only obtain a tax receipt for donations between GBP 100 and GBP 9,999.
Please note that according to the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, Swiss residents can only obtain a tax receipt for donations of minimum 100 CHF. Donations as of €5 are still possible via FEDORA's payment page for anyone wishing to make a donation of under £100 or 100 CHF without receiving a tax receipt.
Learn more about possible benefits or tax deductions related to your donation here.
Learn more about the crowdfunding campaign here.
Yum! 3 © i
YUM! is a participatory XR music theater that blends immersive dining with grotesque beauty, dark humor, and pioneering tech-woven narratives. Step into a vivid, absurd universe where surreal storytelling and uncanny scenarios unfold. YUM! delves into climate change, food shortages, class, identity, and self-obsession, offering a multi-sensory spectacle that reflects on the human condition in exaggerated yet eerily familiar ways—all within a world of absurdism and authentic artificiality.
About the Project
YUM! is an innovative participatory XR (Extended Reality) music theater that immerses audiences in a satirical dining experience where grotesque beauty, dark humor, and tech-driven narratives intertwine. Created by Studio M.A.R.S., this production transports viewers to a parallel universe—vividly absurd and hauntingly familiar—where a sheen of opulence conceals a world plagued by climate catastrophe, food shortages, and societal decay.
Through exaggerated storytelling, YUM! delves into themes of class, identity, and self-obsession. XR technology serves as both a dramaturgical and metaphorical tool, revealing how digital media distorts perception and blurs the line between the authentic and the artificial.
In YUM!, digital illusion collides with physical reality as an XR app transforms revolting jelly dishes into sumptuous virtual feasts, symbolizing our daily interactions with digital devices. Here, technology questions its role in a dystopian society—do screens distort reality, or do they simply mirror our artificial lives?
At the core of YUM! is its pioneering use of AR and VR, seamlessly blending mixed reality with live performance to draw audiences into an uncanny, digital-woven experience. Over sixty surreal minutes, audiences are immersed in a distorted high-society world of grotesque, fake luxuries as the planet teeters on collapse. Dining with self-obsessed characters, they are pulled further into this fabricated reality with satirical ‘Advertisements,’ revealing how digital opulence masks environmental devastation, food shortages, and societal emptiness. In YUM!, devices aren’t just tools; they’re façades masking decay.
Performance Note: The show is designed for active participatory table audiences, with fourteen table viewers equipped with XR devices, as well as passive watcher audiences who can view from auditorium seats or walk around without XR devices.
Read more
Authentically Artificial:
At the core of Studio M.A.R.S. is Authentically Artificial, a signature philosophy that challenges the boundaries between reality and artifice. It’s the deliberate creation of art that appears exaggerated and artificial, yet is executed with such precision and intention that it feels profoundly authentic. This paradox resonates on a deep emotional and intellectual level, reflecting the complexity and contradictions of modern life.
We infuse Authentically Artificial into every aspect of our productions—from heightened music and surreal settings to exaggerated visuals, acting, and operatic performances. By embracing over-the-top artifice, we reveal glimpses of genuine human experience within the absurd, inviting audiences to explore the balance between the artificial and the authentic.
Our innovative use of AI-generated visuals and music amplifies this experience, embracing the uncanny strangeness AI often brings. These bizarre, distorted elements infuse our work with dark humor and absurdity, shaping the signature aesthetic of Studio M.A.R.S. Here, the fusion of AI-generated art and absurdism becomes more than a technique—it’s our defining mark. This unique blend creates visually and musically compelling performances that make Authentically Artificial the hallmark of our creative vision.
Why should you support us?
Supporting Studio M.A.R.S. means championing a bold, new artistic vision where dark humor, absurdism, and cutting-edge technology are seamlessly woven into performances to deepen narrative and engage audiences. We confront real-world issues with a satirical twist, creating wildly imaginative, visually striking, and over-the-top settings that draw audiences into surreal worlds, inviting them to question hidden truths within the absurd.
We break traditional boundaries by making opera accessible, relevant, and immersive for contemporary and younger audiences. Our signature aesthetic and philosophy: Authentically Artificial, combines vibrant retro-futurism with grotesque beauty, crafting visually and musically compelling performances that resonate emotionally. With operatic techniques and exaggerated performances that heighten the uncanny, Studio M.A.R.S. distills societal absurdities while pushing the boundaries of traditional opera, resulting in provocative, immersive, and otherworldly experiences.
By supporting us, you enable us to continue pushing the limits of performing arts, using technology not as a gimmick, but as an integral storytelling tool that enhances narrative depth. We breathe new life into opera, keeping it accessible and relevant to modern audiences, all while maintaining its artistic integrity.
As a female-led, multicultural collective, we are committed to inclusivity and diversity, fostering an environment that challenges patriarchal structures and embraces a broad spectrum of voices and perspectives. Your support will help us innovate, expand our reach, and inspire new audiences to experience opera in transformative and exciting ways.
Supporting Studio M.A.R.S. is more than funding a production; it’s championing a movement that blends art with technology to tell stories that matter. Join us in shaping the future of opera and music theater.
Who are we?
Studio M.A.R.S. (Music Art Research Science) is a visionary collective at the forefront of multimedia storytelling and immersive opera and music theater. Our productions are known for their distinctive blend of dark humor, absurdism, and biting satire, set within a surreal parallel universe that mirrors our own but with a catastrophic twist. Through this unique narrative lens, we offer a sharp reflection on the absurdities of modern society.
We seamlessly integrate AI, XR, and digital technologies into our performances—not as mere spectacles, but as essential tools that enrich narrative depth, enhance music perception, and deepen audience engagement. At Studio M.A.R.S., technology serves the story, whether through AI-generated visuals reflecting the emotional states of characters or XR environments that allow audiences to traverse virtual universe alongside performers. This approach defines our signature: using technology as a core element of dramaturgy to draw audiences further into the narrative.
By breaking the fourth wall and blending high art with pop culture, gaming, and retro-futurism, we make opera more accessible and relevant to contemporary audiences. Our visually striking productions, marked by a surreal aesthetic and multi-sensory experiences, challenge perceptions of reality and authenticity. In crafting an "authentically artificial" world, moments of genuine truth emerge powerfully amid the elaborate artifice.
Studio M.A.R.S. continually pushes the boundaries of opera and theater by creating immersive, interactive environments that invite audiences to actively engage with the story, becoming participants in the unfolding narrative.
Supporters
Yu-Chun Huang donated 8 days ago
Anonymous donated 19 days ago
Anonymous donated 22 days ago
Pledge without a reward
€
For €30
A personalised thank-you video from the artistic team.
For €50
A personalized thank-you video from the artistic team, plus an exclusive digital artwork (NFT), featuring highly stylized imagery of Yum! food.
For €100
A personalized thank-you video from the artistic team, along with early access to the Yum! XR app for testing before its public release.
For €200
Guaranteed seating at the dining table for any performance (excluding the premiere), followed by a post-performance reception and a meet-and-greet with the artistic team and cast.
For €500
Guaranteed seating at the dining table (Premiere), a VIP virtual reality (VR) experience, exclusive VIP dishes during performance, and access to the post-performance reception with the artistic team and cast.
For €5,000
A private, bespoke Yum! experience for you and a guest, hosted by the artistic team and cast,
Special notice about recommending a donation:
You are about to make a donation to FEDORA, a French non-profit organisation, to support the crowdfunding campaign of the FEDORA Prizes Biennale 2025 on the FEDORA Platform. Donors can recommend a distribution of their donations to a specific nominated project, but FEDORA is in charge at its discretion to forward the funds to the Nominees.
Upon completing your donation, FEDORA or the Transnational Giving Europe Partner will provide you with more information regarding your donation receipt, allowing you to claim tax relief on your donation.
Please note that by donating online, you accept our Legal Notice (https://www.fedora-platform.com/more-infos/legal-notice).
Thank you for your generosity!
If you are a company or tax resident in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland or United Kingdom and do not wish to receive the associated crowdfunding benefits, you can receive a tax receipt instead. To do so, please click on “Pledge without a reward” and type in the amount you wish to donate.
Please note that according to the Charities Aid Foundation, UK residents can only obtain a tax receipt for donations between GBP 100 and GBP 9,999.
Please note that according to the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, Swiss residents can only obtain a tax receipt for donations of minimum 100 CHF. Donations as of €5 are still possible via FEDORA's payment page for anyone wishing to make a donation of under £100 or 100 CHF without receiving a tax receipt.
Learn more about possible benefits or tax deductions related to your donation here.
Learn more about the crowdfunding campaign here.
Special notice about the crowdfunding campaign
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