All That Is Seen and Unseen, 2023 (in development)

All That Is Seen and Unseen is a hybrid opera and media installation which investigates the multifarious effects of technology on our collective human consciousness. The work confronts the dangerous erosion of truth and trust in our society that results when we are routinely confronted with ever more convincing digital facsimiles of human experience, unable to tell the difference between reality, fantasy, art, object, avatar or human. Inspired by classical forms (generated and manipulated through AI), the piece is a collaboration between human and non-human approaches to creativity, conjuring a phantasmagoria of processed video, music, text and performance.

The libretto was created using early iterations of A.I. text generators guided by targeted prompts evoking stories and characters existing in a kind of spectral theater of the mind. Subject to glitches, repetitions, doubts and poetic musings, this text offers a collaboration between human and non-human approaches to creativity.

 Characters (evoking Greek and Roman statues) were created with a range of A.I. tools and then edited and combined with moving images by Shaun and Lauren.  The characters are embodied by performances of down town actors – including Scott Shepherd, Jim Fletcher, Sari, Tsukada and Tory Vazquez. Zach generated the music using a neural network Max patch (trained on operas by Jean-Philippe Rameau) and added vocal melodies sung by soprano Amelia Watkins. The relationship between image, sound, technology and performance will be deepened as the work continues to build in complexity.

An installation version of this project was recently on view on Governors Island, summer 2023, as part of Harvestworks’ exhibition The Process. An installation version was presented at CURRENTS NEW MEDIA FESTIVAL in Santa Fe in summer 2025.

All That Is Seen and Unseen is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governors and the New York State Legislature. Additional support comes from the Harvestworks Creative Residency Program and MacDowell.