Ground Studies for Pilots is a generative audiovisual performance by Pandelis Diamantides that explores the preparatory phase of pilots “studying the ground” before taking flight. This metaphorical exploration serves as a lens through which Diamantides examines the human condition: the tension between being grounded in physical reality and the anticipation of a leap into the unknown.

Through the use of biometric data, including heartbeats and breathing, Ground Studies for Pilots generates a dynamic, ever-shifting audiovisual landscape. This terrain represents the boundary between tangible reality and hyperreality—a place where physical sensation, emotional states, and digital abstraction converge. The performance invites audiences to contemplate the fragility of perception and the evolving relationship between human agency and technological simulation.

Themes of fragmented identity and shifting realities take center stage, as Ground Studies for Pilots challenges the audience to navigate a world increasingly mediated by technology. It reflects on our readiness—or lack thereof—for a future where personal autonomy and authentic experience are constantly renegotiated.

This performance connects deeply to Diamantides’ works in the same series, Beautiful Is a Filter and Othered, which explore the constructs of identity and beauty within a mediated, digitized world. While Beautiful Is a Filter questions superficial societal standards and Othered investigates the alienation of imposed identity, Ground Studies for Pilots situates these themes in a broader, existential framework. It examines the preparation and courage required to face an uncertain future, offering audiences an immersive, thought-provoking journey into the interplay of self, society, and technology.