Hyperrhiz 27

Oneiromancy – Divination through Dreams

Buena Onda Collective (Dominika Ksel and Camila A. Morales)

Citation: , Buena Onda Collective (Dominika Ksel and Camila A. Morales). “Oneiromancy – Divination through Dreams.” Hyperrhiz: New Media Cultures, no. 27, 2024. doi:10.20415/hyp/027.a07

Abstract: Oneiromancy – Divination through Dreams by Buena Onda Collective (Dominika Ksel and Camila Morales) is an immersive, interactive animated project designed to empower the Far Rockaway, Queens community in the face of climate crisis and environmental injustice. Collaborating with local organizations like RISE and Shore Corps, as well as residents and CUNY students, the project engaged over 100 participants (ages 5-65+) in workshops to create drawings, 3D models, audio recordings, and animations that reflect personal histories, dreams, and ecological connections. Guided by questions about capitalism and rising tides, the collective envisioned alternative futures, blending fantasy, dystopia, and resilience. Using open-source software, AI, and stop-motion animation, these visions were transformed into immersive 360-degree experiences, accessible via mobile devices and QR codes across the Rockaway Peninsula. The 360 animations culminated in an interactive exploratorium built with Unity and Community Toolkit, showcasing the power of artistic collaboration and digital media in addressing socio-environmental challenges, and moving from scarcity to empowerment and abundance.

Keywords: climate resiliency, digital world-building, community collaboration, immersive animation, environmental justice, cyber social practice.

View Project: Oneiromancy – Divination through Dreams

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Artist Statement

In 2019, Buena Onda Collective (Dominika Ksel and Camila A. Morales) formed during a chance encounter in the chilly winter seas of Rockaway Beach. Quickly, we realized a shared love for the ocean and creating artworks that reframe our ecological imprint through technology, consciousness, and community. Our vision is guided via eco-centricity, integrating multi-species interaction & collaboration while using sustainable & reclaimed materials that manifest into dynamic and holistic community experiences. As immigrants coming from countries displaced by dictatorship, we connected on our activism, care, and desire to integrate novel experiences that bring people and various sentient and non-sentient life forms together for the purpose of healing, shifting relationships,and building new paradigms. Our practice examines the knowledge and systems of ecotechnologies and frameworks of ecosophy, queer ecology, and deep listening. These ideas manifest in experiential public installations, sculptures, mixed-reality, and workshops creating a future where under-represented communities have access to a social art practice that connects them with public spaces and their extended ecologies.

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