sabina oțelea

[World-Building Through Writing : workshop] on Saturday, i held a world-building workshop as part of ARCADE, the show curated by @covenldn at @hyphastudios . we looked at some of my forever inspirations, Ursula K. Le Guin and Donna Haraway, the thinking of anthropologist Tim Ingold, and literary techniques such as the defamiliarisation of Russian Formalism. the result was a series of intimate writing exercises, focused on the gentle creation of worlds, through object-driven speculations, soft world-building and engaged conversations 🫧 thank you everyone who participated, and to @covenldn + @hyphastudios for making this possible. hope to so loads more things like this in the future! ARCADE remains open until the 18th of April, and it is definitely not to be missed! 📍Hypha HQ, Unit 3, Euston Tower, 286 Euston Road, NW1 3DP 🗓 Open: 20th March – 18th April 2026, Thursday - Sunday, 12 - 6pm 💭 At ARCADE, all of the art is playable. Delving into themes of science fiction, speculative futurism, role-playing, and fantasy, ARCADE puts audiences at the core, with unnatural video games, sculptural simulations, expansive browser-based open worlds, and surrealist table-top roleplaying games.

👾THIS SATURDAY AT ARCADE!!👾 We are very excited for artist @spectraldaze to teach her free workshop ✨WORLDBUILDING THROUGH WRITING✨ an entry point into developing rich alternate universes for your art. 🔏Bring something to write with (paper, pens or a laptop) and an object that is special to you. 🔮 Please note this is currently SOLD OUT but there is a waiting list and we expect spots to become available! ‼️ ⏰ THIS SATURDAY March 28 2:00 - 4:30PM 📍at Hypha HQ Unit 3 Euston Tower London NW1 3DP Thank you @hyphastudios and British Land for the space! Head to the 🔗 in our byeohhhhh to sign up 👆 #writingworkshop #freelondon #worldbuilding #freeworkshop

[Hidden Key : multimedia installation, interactive cabinet of curiosities & sonic speculative fiction] ‘Hidden Key’ is a browser-based multimedia installation set in the period between 2068-2075. Its contents are a documentation of the findings of an alienated carbon-capture researcher and technician (CCRT) named Dr. Levi Elwood. The work functions as a diegetic cabinet-of-curiosities, co-created by Dr. Elwood and their raven companion, seeking to explore the human and more-than-human implications of preservation, behaviours of collection and ‘nesting’, and the futility that these impulses often embody. 📍Hypha HQ, Unit 3, Euston Tower, 286 Euston Road, NW1 3DP 🗓 Open: 20th March – 18th April 2026, Thursday - Sunday, 12 - 6pm 💭 At ARCADE, all of the art is playable. Delving into themes of science fiction, speculative futurism, role-playing, and fantasy, ARCADE puts audiences at the core, with unnatural video games, sculptural simulations, expansive browser-based open worlds, and surrealist table-top roleplaying games. 👤 Featured artists: Joe Strickland - @chronicinsanitytheatre Johnny Henson - @jawknee.h Amos Nappo - @amosnappo Virginie Tan - @oyvirginie Joe Browning - @joebrowning Sabina Otelea- @spectraldaze Marc Blazel - @blazeldude Jim Osman - @rhizocorp Floon - @floonzine Tom Witherick - @tomwitherick Parham Ghalamdar - @parham.ghalamdar Kindly supported by @britishlandplc  in partnership with @hyphastudios Images by Carlo Zambon @carlozambon

[Hidden Key : multimedia installation, interactive cabinet of curiosities & sonic speculative fiction] last night was the private view for a new show at @hyphastudios titled ARCADE, where i got to showcase a new iteration of my project, Hidden Key. i revisited the game environment created and my research, and brought the game outside of the screen. through diegetic prototyping and sonic speculative fiction, i developed its world further, and i am cosmically happy with how it turned out! thank you so much to everyone to came to the private view and enjoyed the show! i had so many wonderful conversations, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. thank you to @covenldn for the support and for putting together such a fantastic show. Exhibition open 20th March - 18th April Thursday - Sunday 12-6pm HYPHA HQ, Unit 3, Euston Tower 286 Euston Road London, NW1 3DP Kindly supported by @hyphastudios   featuring the gang: Joe Strickland - @chronicinsanitytheatre Johnny Henson - @jawknee.h Amos Nappo - @amosnappo Virginie Tan - @oyvirginie Joe Browning + Georgia Arben-Crowther - @joebrowniing Sabina Oțelea- @spectraldaze Marc Blazel - @blazeldude Jim Osman - @rhizocorp Floon - @floonzine Tom Witherick - @tomwitherick Parham Ghalamdar - @parham.ghalamdar

👾ARCADE PREVIEW👾 ARTIST: @spectraldaze 🔑“‘Hidden Key’ is a browser-based multimedia installation set in the period between 2068-2075. Its contents are a documentation of the findings of an alienated carbon-capture researcher and technician (CCRT) named Dr. Levi Elwood. The work functions as a diegetic cabinet-of-curiosities, co-created by Dr. Elwood and their raven companion, seeking to explore the human and more-than-human implications of preservation, behaviours of collection and ‘nesting’, and the futility that these impulses often embody.” 👁️ABOUT SABINA:👁️ “Sabina Oțelea is a London-based critical designer, researcher and creative technologist whose work exists in places where sound, ecology and technology meet, reflecting on the present and speculating on the future of these elements. Their practice explores non-anthropocentric futures and feminist techno-ecologies through poetic storytelling and affective world-building.” ✨SHOW INFO:✨ Hypha Presents: ARCADE Curated by @covenldn 🥂🍾Private View - Thursday 19th March 6-9pm Exhibition open 20th March - 18th April Thursday - Sunday 12-6pm HYPHA HQ, Unit 3, Euston Tower 286 Euston Road London, NW1 3DP Kindly supported by @hyphastudios , affordable space Provided by British Land 👀FT ARTISTS: 🤖 Joe Strickland - @chronicinsanitytheatre Johnny Henson - @jawknee.h Amos Nappo - @amosnappo Virginie Tan - @oyvirginie Joe Browning + Georgia Arben-Crowther - @joebrowniing Sabina Oțelea- @spectraldaze Marc Blazel - @blazeldude Jim Osman - @rhizocorp Floon - @floonzine Tom Witherick - @tomwitherick Parham Ghalamdar - @parham.ghalamdar #londonart #contemporaryart #gaming

[process] the thing about working with found materials is that, if you’re extra lucky, you even get to find matching outfits… working with @cepams on ‘occurrences’ has been such a wondrous experience. it genuinely felt like we were being guided by something outside of ourselves, a gentle hand sprinkling moments of inspiration in front of us, directing us on paths that, at some points, felt very nebulous, and holding together a process of care and fragility in all its beauty. i suppose fragility comes with its counterpart, strength. the strength of a connection between two artists resulted in a concatenation of serendipitous moments and a soulful collaboration. the strength of a process beyond a finished outcome, if an outcome can ever be truly finished. the strength of caring for each other throughout the creative process, in the face of adversity. special and rare moments like this are why i pursued this path, and what helps be describe what this path actually is. i hope to encounter more of them, when they are ready to find me.

𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬, 2025 • We worked exclusively with found materials, allowing our processes to morph onto their contours. We believe our materials remember their origins, their previous states of existence, so we listened for the stories they wanted to tell us. Perhaps the glass remembers having been sand, or the scorching flames. Perhaps the neodymium within our magnets remembers its extraction from its primordial rare-earth ores. Change is no easy feat, often being a violent process – we had no desire to disregard the materials’ histories, so we let them further inform our process of storytelling. Our experiments involved repurposing parts of obsolete technologies, and they often emerged in cycles as opposed to linearly. Our references were curated apophenically, in an exercise of seeing shimmering threads of connection between the most seemingly unassuming things: a dead butterfly, a corroded mirror, a piece of metal left to rust. Finding these materials was not a mere coincidence, but time’s offerings along our path. • Trabajamos exclusivamente con materiales encontrados, lo que permitió que nuestros procesos se adaptaran a sus contornos. Creemos que nuestros materiales recuerdan sus orígenes, sus estados de existencia anteriores, por lo que escuchamos las historias que querían contarnos. Quizás el vidrio recuerda haber sido arena o las llamas abrasadoras. El cambio no es tarea fácil, a menudo es un proceso violento, y no queríamos ignorar la historia de los materiales, así que dejamos que informaran aún más nuestro proceso de narración. Nuestros experimentos consistían en reutilizar partes de tecnologías obsoletas, y a menudo surgían en ciclos en lugar de de forma lineal. Nuestras referencias se seleccionaron de forma apofénica, en un ejercicio de ver hilos brillantes de conexión entre las cosas más aparentemente insignificantes: una mariposa muerta, un espejo corroído, un trozo de metal abandonado a la oxidación. Encontrar estos materiales no fue una mera coincidencia, sino un regalo del tiempo a lo largo de nuestro camino.

𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬, 2025 Our process for 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬 began with a series of linguistic exercises, in which we attempted to talk about time without making any reference to conventional notions or measurements, such as hours, days or years. To address the past, we referred to emotions, nostalgia and memories. Regarding the future, we used abstractions, since those words have not yet been constructed; rather, they move in the realm of an illusion of the future, the longing for a projection that is yet to come. This fragile position, determined by the idea of the elusive, delicate and ungraspable present, became the focus of ​​𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬. The project continued as experiments that sought to transduce sound into different forms of existence: a concatenation of vibration and movement, some seemingly imperceptible. • Nuestro proceso para 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬 comenzó con una serie de ejercicios lingüísticos, en los que intentamos hablar del tiempo sin hacer referencia a nociones o medidas convencionales, como horas, días o años. Para abordar el pasado, nos referimos a las emociones, la nostalgia y los recuerdos. En cuanto al futuro, utilizamos abstracciones, ya que esas palabras aún no se han construido; más bien, se mueven en el ámbito de una ilusión del futuro, el anhelo de una proyección que aún está por llegar. Esta frágil posición, determinada por la idea de un presente esquivo, delicado e inaprensible, se convirtió en el centro de 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬. El proyecto continuó como una serie de experimentos que buscaban transducir el sonido en diferentes formas de existencia: una concatenación de vibraciones y movimientos, algunos aparentemente imperceptibles. • 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬 was created by @spectraldaze and @cepams during @89sound.art Fall Cycle 2025, and was exhibited at @soundartlab_dk and @minu_festival .

𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬, 2025 As an outcome of our research and collaborative process, we propose this project as a non-productive, degrowth system that understands existence not as a process rushing towards a resolution or culmination, but as a mesh of interconnections that sustain the fragility of existence itself. In its care and attention to cycles, the installation does not seek efficiency, growth or progress, but rather to generate an awareness of its fragility through the minute sounds it produces. In order to hear it, participants must adapt the scale of their perception to the dimensions of this fragile system; therefore, listening is related to care as a fundamental basis for connection across multiple scales of perception. • 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬 was created by @spectraldaze and @cepams during @89sound.art Fall Cycle 2025, and was exhibited at @soundartlab_dk and @minu_festival as part of 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲, 𝗮 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁, 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗽, 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁, 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸. • Como resultado de nuestro proceso de investigación y colaboración, proponemos este proyecto como un sistema no productivo y de decrecimiento que entiende la existencia no como un proceso que se precipita hacia una resolución o culminación, sino como una malla de interconexiones que sostienen la fragilidad de la existencia misma. En su cuidado y atención a los ciclos, la instalación no busca la eficiencia, el crecimiento o el progreso, sino generar una conciencia de su fragilidad a través de los minúsculos sonidos que produce. Para escucharla, los participantes deben adaptar la escala de su percepción a las dimensiones de este frágil sistema; por lo tanto, la escucha se relaciona con el cuidado como base fundamental para la conexión a través de múltiples escalas de percepción. • ‘occurrences desiring nothing but a spark’ fue creada por @spectraldaze y @cepams durante su participación en el Fall Cycle 2025 de @89sound.art , y fue exhibida en @soundartlab_dk y @minu_festival .

𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬 is a sound installation exploring time and fragility, manifested as an interconnected system perpetually seeking unstable equilibrium, actuated through small occurrences happening simultaneously. The installation transduces energy into various forms of existence, and evaluates them not as means-to-an-end, but as occurrences demanding no witness but their own heat. Employing the principles of a fragile speaker, composed of a glass cylinder, a copper coil and interconnected magnets, the vibration of sound becomes a gesture towards the space it delineates. This project proposes an active space of contemplation and invites its inhabitants to reflect upon computation beyond its extractive and hegemonic utilisations, as a transformation of energy into metaphysical forms of intelligence, where small deviations are understood as forms of knowledge. • 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬 was created by @spectraldaze and @cepams during @89sound.art Fall Cycle 2025, and was exhibited at @soundartlab_dk and @minu_festival . • 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬 es una instalación sonora que explora el tiempo y la fragilidad en un sistema interconectado, buscando perpetuamente equilibrio inestable por medio de pequeños sucesos simultáneos. La instalación transduce energía en otras formas de existencia, no como un medio para un fin, sino como acontecimientos que no piden más testigo que su propio calor. Tomando los principios de un altavoz frágil, compuesto por un cilindro de vidrio, una bobina de cobre e imanes interconectados, la vibración del sonido se convierte en un gesto hacia el espacio que delimita. El proyecto propone un espacio activo de contemplación e invita a reflexionar sobre la computación más allá de sus usos extractivos y hegemónicos, transformando la energía en formas metafísicas de inteligencia, donde pequeñas desviaciones son comprendidas como otras formas de conocimiento. Creado por Sabina Oțelea y Ce Pams durante el Ciclo de Otoño de 89 Sound Art School de 2025 en Sound Art Lab, Struer, Dinamarca.

[There Are So Many Worlds Inside This One : interactive 3D research] ‘There Are So Many Worlds Inside This One’ is an apophenic virtual space emerging from the latent states between technologies separated by time. Its structure resembling a genealogical tree made up of spider webs, this research-based project presents its audiences with different technologies of different materialities, and an invitation to connect these symbolic elements through navigating the space, jumping across timelines of technological evolution. This interactive virtual space interrelates complex material relationships created over vast scales of time, from the formation of ores and the melting of silica particles to the creation of the loom and that of core-memory units, bringing audiences into a temporal dissonance in which the past, present and future converge: a provocation highlighting the fundamental instability of being a body in time. ‘There Are So Many Worlds Inside This One’ explores the worlds within glass, copper, yarn, dowsing sticks, spider webs, butterflies and a 555 timer IC. An unfolding three-dimensional collage of textual and audio fragments creates pockets of time in which participants can reflect upon the technologies they are presented with in relation to modern forms of computation. The slow movements prompt quiet reflection, facilitated by audio excerpts collected from interviews and talks from multidisciplinary figures like Ursula K. Le Guin, Karen Barad, Jorge Luis Borges, Carlo Rovelli and Mark Fisher, amongst many others. This excerpts are supplemented by no-input mixing compositions and field recordings. Each three-dimensional object helps contain these audio reflections, inviting audiences to draw connections between multiple frameworks of thought, with the purpose of answering the question that drives this project: what is deemed a technology, and by whom? • ‘There Are So Many Worlds Inside This One’ is part of the 2025 edition of @thewrong.biennale , exhibited in the @six___minutes ‘Plastic Prognosticate’ pavilion. • you enter and explore this space at: https://newart.city/show/there-are-so-many-worlds-inside-this-one/?no-ui

[There Are So Many Worlds Inside This One : interactive 3D research] this past fall, i was invited by the wonderful @six___minutes to participate in their pavilion for the 2025 edition of The Wrong Biennale @thewrong.biennale , titled ‘Plastic Prognosticate’. ‘Plastic Prognosticate’ brings together works by international artists to explore AI, digital embodiment, and speculative futures. dosted within an interactive virtual environment, the Pavilion questions authorship, presence, and the shifting role of human creativity in machine-shaped culture. thank you so much to everyone at @six___minutes @lynnklemmer  @mathieu.buchler @daniellingham for opening up this collaboration – the development process behind this led to incredibly insightful research that i am beyond excited to take forward into this new year. here are some snapshots from ‘There Are So Many Worlds Inside This One’, my project for the ‘Plastic Prognosticate’ pavilion, alongside some sketches and conceptual development. • ‘There Are So Many Worlds Inside This One’ is an apophenic virtual space emerging from the latent states between technologies separated by time. Its structure resembling a genealogical tree made up of spider webs, this research-based project presents its audiences with different technologies of different materialities, and an invitation to connect these symbolic elements through navigating the space, jumping across timelines of technological evolution. ‘There Are So Many Worlds Inside This One’ explores the worlds within glass, copper, yarn, dowsing sticks, spider webs, butterflies and a 555 timer IC. An unfolding three-dimensional collage of textual and audio fragments creates pockets of time in which participants can reflect upon the technologies they are presented with in relation to modern forms of computation. Each three-dimensional object helps contain these excerpts, inviting audiences to draw connections between multiple frameworks of thought, with the purpose of answering the question that drives this project: what is deemed a technology, and by whom? • you can see ‘Plastic Prognosticate’ at: /