The aim of the ZGB project is to explore with a rigorous scientific approach how gravity affects aesthetic preferences and design an artistic performance based on the truly innovative and novel research on how gravity itself shapes our perceptual and aesthetic experiences. We anticipate that this will make ground-breaking progress in the understanding of microgravity effects on human cognition and might engender practical implications for the design of interiors of spaceships and space stations for long term space flight.

Immersive Installation at Sónar+D 2018 (Barcelona). A scientific protocol was designed to induce “zero-gravity” and vertigo sensations through audio and visual stimuli.

Albert Barqué-Duran (1989), PhD, is an artist and a researcher in Creative Technologies and Digital Art, currently based in Barcelona.

Duran earned his PhD and Postdoc in Cognitive Science from City, University of London (UK) and have been a Visiting Postgraduate Researcher at Harvard University (USA) and University of Oxford (UK). Duran’s artistic research focuses on: (1) human-machine interaction during artistic and creative processes, (2) Artificial Intelligence’s (AI) aesthetic artifacts, (3) perception and aesthetics under sensory conflicts, vestibular manipulation or altered gravity conditions, and (4) experimental formats and aesthetics in virtual environments using game engines.

He has exhibited and performed at Sónar+D (Barcelona, Spain), Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria), ZKM (Karlsruhe, Germany), Creative Reactions (London, UK), Cricoteka (Krakow, Poland), Albumarte (Rome, Italy), SciArt Center (New York, USA), IGNITE Fest (Medellín, Colombia), Nuits Sonores (Lyon, France), Mobile World Congress (Barcelona, Spain), Ming Contemporary Art Museum (Shanghai, China), DMA (Daejon, South Korea), SIGGRAPH (USA) or NeurIPS (Vancouver, Canada), and more.