Valentina Miller on Tima Ozen

Dear Tima,

This September I had the pleasure of attending your FringeArts event “Sky Song, a Solo Woodwind Performance by Andrew Urbina,” which was part of the Elements series curated by Zoe McCarthy at AUTOMAT Gallery. By virtue of our neighboring studios this summer, I came into the event with some preconceptions: on any given day I might find tufts of cotton clouds suspended from the ceiling, an abstract animation test running on a projector, or colorful fabric panels fluttering in the breeze of the air conditioner. 

The early glimpses I had of Elements gave me an impression of something carefully built, but sitting in the room during Sky Song, I realized how little of the experience could be constructed in advance. I became acutely aware of its ephemeral quality: this particular combination of people, sound, movement, and imagery would exist for one night only. The projection art wasn’t a static video loop overlaid on a handful of props; I was watching a living, breathing dialogue unfold between artist and performer, with live-mixed visuals, dynamic simulations, and interactive elements shifting alongside the forces of nature they evoked.

Andrew’s woodwind performance was particularly evocative: a conversation spoken in flute and saxophone that reverberated through his loop mixer with the gentleness of a zephyr and the turbulence of a storm. As I listened, his sound seemed to move through the projected imagery, punctuated by murmurations of songbirds, flowing light particles, and bolts of lightning conducted by you and Zoe in response to his improvised movements. The layers of sound and image became inseparable in the moment. I found myself less interested in where Andrew’s performance ended and the environment began, and more aware of how each was continually reshaping my experience of the other.

In my own design practice, I think a lot about embodied experiences, audience participation, and interactivity within immersive digital spaces. Elements is interactive without being prescriptive and invites participants to engage naturally, without any pressure to perform. I found myself breathing in time with the rhythms of the room, more participant than viewer. When I exhaled, the iridescent fabric before me shimmered in response, and the cast shadows took on the currents of my own breath. Around me, other members of the audience relaxed on cushions, swayed their bodies, and contributed their feelings to a response board hanging on the wall.

What you’ve accomplished with Sky Song is a masterful example of sublime ephemerality. To be present for a night of Elements is to partake in a deeply sensory reflection that exists in a singular moment: powerful and fleeting, like the forces of nature around and within us. I left thinking about the energies our minds and bodies seek from the natural world, whether the calmness of water, the stability of earth, the motion of air, or the heat of fire, and about how beautifully Elements makes space for us to encounter them in ourselves.

Brava!

Valentina Miller

Valentina Miller is a Philadelphia-based artist, designer, educator, and creative technologist whose work spans animation, game design, interactive installation, and immersive media. She is a guest writer for the 2026 Philly Fringe Postcards.

Tima Ozen is an artist and yoga instructor for Elements at AUTOMAT Collective.