John Fitzgerald
The Vivid Unknown: CloudQatsi
US premiere
Visual Art / Installation / Film
Free
The Vivid Unknown: CloudQatsi is an ephemeral installation of projected light and water vapor, shaped by the violent nexus of nature, humans, and technology. The work reimagines Koyaanisqatsi — Godfrey Reggio’s seminal 1982 film — using a generative AI model and ongoing conversations between Fitzgerald and Reggio.
Cast onto a drifting veil of mist, light gathers, fades, and returns. The image breathes, loosening the boundaries between atmosphere and environment, machine and element, presence and disappearance. As the very ground beneath us shifts from terra firma to techno firma, the installation lingers at the threshold, asking quietly: which age is this, the sunset or the dawn?
Photo by Pinelopi Gerasimou
The Dark: PS21’s fearless winter festival of live performance radiating across Columbia County
The Dark is a new annual festival from PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance that celebrates and elevates the depths of winter. Taking place February 16–22, 2026, the festival will unfold at PS21 and across Columbia County—in theatres, restaurants, libraries, saunas, and outdoor public spaces. Featuring more than 60 international artists and over 80 performances, The Dark offers a packed week of world-class contemporary performance, installation, music, dance, and theatre—all exploring winter as a time of community and solitude, fire and ice, darkness and light. A major new attraction for the region, the festival positions Columbia County as a year-round cultural destination—not just a summer one.
It is a light in the dark—and The Dark is the light.
Secure your Festival Pass to The Dark now which includes tickets to every performance along with a complimentary sauna and ice skating session!
The Vivid Unknown: CloudQatsi is an ephemeral installation composed of projected light and water vapor, inspired by the groundbreaking 1982 film Koyaanisqatsi’s sweeping vision of a world in transition—a life out of balance. Projected onto a veil of mist, clouds of light converge into fleeting apparitions, housed within a cavernous, resonant chamber. The visuals breathe with the elements, dissolving the boundaries between image and environment, technology and nature, presence and absence. As the very ground beneath us shifts from terra firma to techno firma, the installation invites viewers to stand inside the flux. Inseparable from its surroundings, reshaped and eroded by the winds of time, CloudQatsi asks, which age is this, the sunset or the dawn?
Created by John Fitzgerald and Godfrey Reggio
Co-produced by Onassis ONX, Agog, and Godfrey Reggio Foundation
Fabrication: Aaron Lobdell
Sound: Ben Shirken
Producers: Godfrey Reggio, Sanford Livingston, Matthew Tierney, Marti Reggio
JOHN FITZGERALD is an artist who blends the playful with the profound, inviting critical reflection on how technology shapes perceptions and behaviors in the digital age. His recent work has premiered at Cannes, Sundance, Tribeca, BAM, and SIGGRAPH. He holds an honors degree in media studies from Brown University, was a Visiting Artist at the MIT Center for Art Science and Technology, Visiting Scholar at the MIT Center for Advanced Urbanism, Pulitzer Center Grantee, and founding member of NEW INC. John is a cofounder of the experiential studio, Sensorium, and the Innovation Director at Onassis ONX in New York.
GODFREY REGGIO (b. 1940) is an American filmmaker and creator of a unique experimental cinematic poetry. He is widely known throughout the world for his groundbreaking filmography, especially the pre-eminent trilogy of Koyaanisqatsi: “Life Out of Balance” (1982); Powaqqatsi: “Life in Transition” (1988); and Naqoyqatsi: “Life as War” (2002). His work reveals a humanist philosophy about our planet, the encroachment of technology on nature, ancient cultures, and the splendor that disappears as a result. They chronicle the impact of the modernizing world on our physical and psychological environment.
Co-Produced By: Onassis ONX, Agog, Godfrey Reggio Foundation.
The Vivid Unknown: CloudQatsi is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Copyright © Techno Firma LLC
The Dark is supported through a Market New York grant, awarded to PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance from Empire State Development and I LOVE NY, New York State’s Division of Tourism.
Digital content coverage for The Dark is supported by Bloomberg Connects.
The Dark‘s business sponsors are Millay Arts and The Mountains Media.
Thank you to the many generous individual supporters who helped fund The Dark.
PS21’s programs are made possible in part with support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
This performance/installation is designed to be experienced as a walk-through or ground procession.
We are happy to accommodate accessibility needs whenever possible—please email Adriana at boxoffice@ps21chatham.org to let us know how we can assist you.
