The Machine of Dreams and Nightmares is a VR-based interactive art piece that immerses the viewer in a dream-like state, observing multiple events unfolding simultaneously. The viewer, inadvertently becoming part of these events, searches for ways to move between and within them. For this work, a new image transmission technology was invented, enabling a vision-guided interactive experience.

In this work, a new medium has been created—a psychoactive one. This new medium allows an encounter with the Real (political horror) in a way that is free from ideological conditioning and is instead determined by the psyche of the viewer. Every individual experiences it differently, and the experience is not predetermined but rather shaped by each viewer’s inner response to themselves and the world.

The machine weaves together vivid, concrete imagery with ethereal, abstract scenes, evoking the fragmented and surreal nature of dreams. At moments, nightmarish images from the past year appear; at others, you find yourself drifting through dark forests, exploring abstract architectonic forms, or wandering desolate landscapes. This multilayered experience aims to evoke a complex interplay of terror, wonder, and introspection, transforming the voyage into a platform for exploring the psyche.

An important inspiration for this work was Brion Gysin and Ian Sommerville’s Dreamachine (1959), a kinetic artwork where flickering light created retinal imagery, or visual hallucinations, for viewers with closed eyes. The Machine of Dreams and Nightmares expands these ideas into the digital and interactive realm in order to explore the nightmare state. At some moments, viewers who are asked to shut their eyes can catch a glimpse of the image that appears behind their closed eyelids.

At its core, the piece seeks to confront the uncontrollable dread born of reality in this region—Israel, the territories, and, Gaza profound devastation—over the past 16 months, since october 7th. Amidst the darkness, it offers a counterpoint: an abstract, meditative space that serves as a temporary refuge. This duality—a collision of nightmare and sanctuary—invites viewers to traverse the liminal spaces between fear and reflection, reality and imagination