Through art, sculpture, film and data, This is a FOREST explores what might be possible if we work with - rather than against - nature, exposing systems and structures that prevent ecosystems from thriving.

This project sees uInvisible Flock collaborate with Anushka Athique, Vandria Borari, Nwando Ebizie, Outi Pieski and Jenni Laiti as we  journey across 50 sites in Leeds in an  attempt to reclaim a part of the city as a forest.

Together these artists and a number of collaborators will present an exhibition and land based interventions that invite us to explore ownership of earth, soil, air and water and how it is valued, asking what is land worth in ecological, health and  social terms, as opposed to just financial ones.


Co-produced by LEEDS 2023 and Invisible Flock. Made possible with National Lottery Heritage Fund. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

@anushkaathique @vandriaborari @nwando_ebizie @outipieski @jennilaiti @leeds2023 @invisibleflock

Nwando Ebizie's Distorted Constellations, presented as part of Liberty Festival, created an immersive installation using ambisonic sound and projections onto gauze to transport the audience into the imagined landscape of the artist’s perceptual reality. Here, visitors traveled through a fragmented labyrinth inspired by Ebizie’s rare neurological disorder, Visual Snow, a condition where the artist’s vision is continually full of swirling coloured, translucent dots (like a George Seurat painting), with glowing lines, auras, light bursts and halos.

Through Distorted Constellations Ebizie proposed an acceptance of a neuro-diverse spectrum as a radical way to make changes in society, establishing one in which all diversity is allowed space to flourish. She presented us with a visceral new world that draws upon the language of sci-fi and ritualistic practice to further warp and bend reality towards a landscape for new, transformative encounters. From this exploration of atypical perception, she encourages us to question how much we can trust our senses and therefore our understanding of our own environments. She asks us to recognise that our own unique neurology has an implicit effect on how we perceive the world - forming bias and prejudices - and map our place within it.

Distorted Constellations subverted the space it was located in order to go beyond its physical limitations. The electronic score, projections and recursive surfaces helped create this visceral new world by distorting senses of sight, sound, the vestibular sense (perception of body position in space). This process revealed to the audience how distinct each navigation of space is - further emphasising the artist’s call for a celebration and acceptance of individual diversities.
Through Ebizie’s personal quest, we were guided to tap into ritualistic practices of transformative healing that disorient space and present it as an illusion - left with the reminder that; (according to neuroscientists), reality is subjective, perception is fallible and how we experience the world is due to our own specific neurology.

“We are delighted to be working with the Mayor of London to bring Liberty to Waltham Forest London Borough of Culture 2019. As we move towards the end of the year, we can showcase some of the fantastic work developed through our grants programmes this year, alongside some of the nation's leading companies working with D/deaf and disabled artists. Liberty is an example of our commitment to supporting the capacity of local businesses and venues to host cultural activity, and to make what they do more accessible and inclusive for all”.

Cllr Claire Coghill, Leader of Waltham Forest Council

Press >>

Londonist

The corner shoppr

Curation of touring exhibition, Distorted Constellations, as part of Lighthouse Festival, 2019.

Enter an Afrofuturist, mythical landscape that explores what it’s like to see the world through someone else’s eyes.

Presented in partnership with Brighton Festival, Distorted Constellations is an exhibition that uses sound, projections and holograms to immerse the audience in the imagined landscape of the artist’s brain.

The work is inspired by Ebizie’s rare neurological disorder Visual Snow, which causes visual distortions such as flickering dots, auras and glowing lines. The audience will experience a mythical version of the disorder, entering an alternate Afrofuturist reality, inspired by research into the neuroscience of perception and drawing on rituals of African origin.

In the exhibition, partitions, screens and threads will create a labyrinth through the space, with walls doubling up as screens where holograms and videos are projected. These architectural elements will guide the audience through the space, and create the experience of Visual Snow.

Distorted Constellations is an interdisciplinary exhibition that combines art and science, and aims to increase our understanding of rare neurological disorders and the subjective nature of sense perception.

Nwando Ebizie presented Distorted Constellations alongside a series of programmed events and talks.

Watch video about the experience >>

Listen to Dr Francesca Puledda talk on Visual Snow >>

>> Press review

Nwando Ebizie's Distorted Constellations, presented as part of Liberty Festival, created an immersive installation using ambisonic sound and projections onto gauze to transport the audience into the imagined landscape of the artist’s perceptual reality. Here, visitors traveled through a fragmented labyrinth inspired by Ebizie’s rare neurological disorder, Visual Snow, a condition where the artist’s vision is continually full of swirling coloured, translucent dots (like a George Seurat painting), with glowing lines, auras, light bursts and halos.

Through Distorted Constellations Ebizie proposed an acceptance of a neuro-diverse spectrum as a radical way to make changes in society, establishing one in which all diversity is allowed space to flourish. She presented us with a visceral new world that draws upon the language of sci-fi and ritualistic practice to further warp and bend reality towards a landscape for new, transformative encounters. From this exploration of atypical perception, she encourages us to question how much we can trust our senses and therefore our understanding of our own environments. She asks us to recognise that our own unique neurology has an implicit effect on how we perceive the world - forming bias and prejudices - and map our place within it.

Distorted Constellations subverted the space it was located in order to go beyond its physical limitations. The electronic score, projections and recursive surfaces helped create this visceral new world by distorting senses of sight, sound, the vestibular sense (perception of body position in space). This process revealed to the audience how distinct each navigation of space is - further emphasising the artist’s call for a celebration and acceptance of individual diversities.

Through Ebizie’s personal quest, we were guided to tap into ritualistic practices of transformative healing that disorient space and present it as an illusion - left with the reminder that; (according to neuroscientists), reality is subjective, perception is fallible and how we experience the world is due to our own specific neurology.

Watch Interview >>

>> Press

According to curator and performance artist Nwando Ebizie (a.k.a Lady Vendredi), our realities are broken. It certainly feels that way. In these times of “alternative facts”, some catharsis-by-art and deep delving into the politics of perception feels fitting and necessary. The month long festival, Your Reality is Broken (YRIB), taking place 2 -28 February, welcomes artists, neuroscientists and audiences to contribute to a collective re-thinking of notions of objectivity and what we assume to be reality.  

Curated by Nwando Ebizie and Jonathan Grieve of MAS productions, numerous multi-disciplinary interactive events including film, workshops, and live music took place as part of artist Yinka Shonibare’s Guest Projects in Hackney, which “provides an alternative universe and playground for artists.”

Supported by Arts Council England and Arts Admin

Watch event >>