ABOVE/BELOW

ABOVE/BELOW is an audio-visual art installation exploring the use of technology to tap into the subconscious. The installation consists of a 7-foot LED cube nestled in the only Ambisonic 3D spatial-sound theater in New York. The experience takes viewers through an audio-visual symphony of hypnotic and meditative sequences that echo patterns in psychedelic and non-ordinary states of consciousness.

The installation consists of two rooms. The ambisonic theater room contains the audio-visual experience (A.K.A ‘The Cube’), while the gallery room exhibits the artist’s large-format mixed-medium prints from both the ‘Above’ and the ‘Below’ series. This series of ten framed prints will go for sale for the duration of the exhibition on the artist’s website: www.oscarz.com. The prints are a mixed-medium process of silkscreen on C-print, each artwork is an edition of 5. The series was printed at Gary Lichtenstein Editions, by the master printer himself, Gary Lichtenstein.

“My work is a marriage of analog and digital. It’s a mixture of taking my analog work, audio recordings, photographs and motion film scans, that I’ve been working on for years and mashing it together inside 3D simulations. So the many layers involved in the process create both a tension and harmony between two mediums.

This release also coincides with the drop of 'The ORBS Series’ by Zabala, a collection of immersive NFTs, to be released across multiple platforms and blockchains. The ORBS NFT series uses Dolby Atmos surround-sound, which allows collectors to have an immersive experience using their own sound system at home, similar to what they would encounter at the ‘Above/Below’ audio-visual museum installation.

The ‘Above’ imagery is based on 35mm film photographs of New York City skies taken by Zabala during the global lockdown of 2020 and continuing into skies captured in New Mexico and Arizona during a desert sabbatical in 2021.

The ‘Below’ imagery is based on A.I.-generated images created using ‘generative models’ trained off photographs and films taken by Zabala. The majority of which were captured at underground raves from the years 2014 to 2019.

Above/Below is produced by Good Company, which has been a close collaborator and the production support for all of Zabala’s major commissions during 2021 and 2022.

Central to the experience of the installation is its spatial-sound design and original score, composed and performed by Zabala. The piece is produced and co-written by Andrew Fox at Astral Studios. Fox is also the spatial-sound designer and composer at MoFE.

The installation is hosted and presented by MoFE (Museum of Future Experiences), a meticulously designed venue created specifically for high-tech immersive experiences. Located in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, MoFE is the only dedicated public space for Ambisonics in New York City.

Oscar Zabala: Above/Below
Museum of Future Experiences
May 17 - May 22

Opening Reception: May 17, 7-10 PM
148 Grand Street, Brooklyn, New York