A Nietzian approach to the elements of disorientation used in Laurie Anderson’s ‘O Superman’. Through the combination of Auditory and Visual Illusions, the viewers perception begins to change. The aim is to allow viewers to experience their own perceptions failing, and call into question our reliance of empirical knowledge through sense experience.

The piece is titled O Übermensch in reference to the Laurie Anderson piece 'O Superman' and Friedrich Nietzsche's use of the term Übermensch to describe "Above Human, Superman, or Super-Human". Nietzsche described it as a goal for humanity to set for itself. Nietzsche left this word open to interpretation, and has been adopted to mean that humanity shall always seek to better itself as a species, with the future prospect of becoming an Übermensch. The Laurie Anderson reference is for the repetitive, and necessary, speech and tones in this piece.

The auditory illusions are thanks to Professor Diana Deutsch's (UC San Diego) work in the phenomenon of phantom words. To recieve the full effect of the auditory and visual illusions, one must be subjected to them for a minute or so. These rapid moving images, pushing lines in and out of the center of the screen, causes one's perception to distort the next image seen. The piece also examines the effects of after images, where the image outline is burned shortly into the retina, causing the negated image to be projected for a short while onto the next image shown.