OASIS
OASIS is a Mixed Reality Opera immersive ceremony co-created with Norah Zuniga Shaw as part of her multi-part research and public practice initiative called Livable Futures.
Step into OASIS and experience various journeys through immersive technology, activist participatory theater, improvisation, and the healing arts—where rest is resistance, and imagination is a vital resource for Livable Futures.
Barnard Movement Lab, November 2022
Barnard Movement Lab, November 2022
Wexner Center for the Arts, March 2022
Barnard Movement Lab, November 2022
Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, March 2024
Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, March 2024
Oasis Trio photo by Seth Moses Miller
OASIS is being developed in physical and virtual reality spaces with ambisonic sound and an intermedia landscape. VR development includes a collaboration with Jameel Paulin on his research in afro-futurist design and shared interest in immersive environments for healing. Sound is performed, processed, and mixed live by Oded Huberman with custom audio software developed by Marc Ainger.
Art and Healing
In what ways can live performance become a catalyst for health and wellness?
How might ambisonic immersive sound foster healing in both physical and virtual environments?
What forms of audience participation best unlock the restorative potential of ambisonic sound installations and intermedia performance?
Ecology, Technology, and Social Change
How can oases and geothermal sites, explored ecologically, visually, sonically, and culturally, inspire new metaphors for human resilience?
Can visualizing “resilience motions” actively cultivate resilience or transform environments for collective growth?
Mixed Reality Performance (VR/AR/MR/XR/IRL)
What does “liveness” mean in virtual and mixed reality performance spaces?
What new possibilities arise when improvisation, interaction, and presence converge across multiple, simultaneous sites?
How can integrating virtual and augmented reality technologies expand the impact and inspiration of performance?
At what point do these technologies enhance the core values of a work, and when might they detract from its essence?
OASIS is an hour-long ceremonial performance of sound, sensation, and story for a place to rest, recover, and reimagine in the midst of ongoing planetary grief and uncertainty. Conceived by Norah Zuniga Shaw for Livable Futures, OASIS resists narratives of disaster to offer a space for healing and transformation.
At the heart of OASIS is an improvised song-cycle composed by Byron Au Yong, whose practice draws on Chinese and Korean vocal traditions, along with Zuniga Shaw’s roots in North American folk and Jewish ritual. Their collaboration weaves music and movement in a sanctuary for the audience to experience a living, breathing ecology of sound and story that shifts with every performance.
Participants are bathed in an environment of stars, water, and warmth that explores themes of mirage, impermanence, and the precariousness of refuge in today’s world. OASIS becomes a literal and metaphorical wellspring for recovery and collective renewal.
Creative Team
Byron Au Yong, composer, and performer
Norah Zuniga Shaw, choreographer and performer
Oded Huberman, intermedia developer, interactive lighting, and performer
Kathryn Nusa Logan, video dramaturg and performer
Marc Ainger, acousmatic and ambisonic sound design and custom software
Dorian Ham, DJ and performer (Wexner)
Sonia Baidya, Lighting design (Wexner)
Video documentation and editing by Kathryn Nusa Logan with contributions from Katie O'Loughlin
Dramaturgy by Michael Morris
Performance Photography by Seth Moses Miller
Documentation Photos on this page by Byron Au Yong
Details
Duration: variable (circa one hour)
Instrumentation
voices, percusion, and piano
Events
March 8-14, 2024
Livable Futures: Oasis Residency
Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica
November 16–20, 2022
Livable Futures: Climate Gathering
Barnard Movement Lab, New York NY
March 23–30, 2022
Livable Futures: Oasis Residency
Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbux OH
Support
OASIS, a mixed-media opera for rest and healing, was co-created by Norah Zuniga Shaw and Byron Au Yong. The project was developed through residencies at the Wexner Center for the Arts and partner institutions across the U.S. and Europe, OASIS is supported by the Greater Columbus Arts Council, Ohio State’s College of Arts and Sciences, and the Global Arts and Humanities Discovery Themes. Additional support provided by Lane Czaplinski, Director for Performing Arts, The Wexner Center for the Arts, The Ohio State University Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design and Global Arts and Humanities Discovery Themes, and the Greater Columbus Arts Council
Please let me know if I have inadvertently missed your name or contribution.