

The Zero Gravity Band (2018): Scientific-Aesthetic Research in Microgravity Environments
The Zero Gravity Band (2018) is an award-winning scientific-artistic collaboration by Albert Barqué-Duran, Marc Marzenit, and Elisa Ferrè, premiered at Sónar Barcelona. The project explores the production and perception of art in environments beyond Earth, interrogating how gravity—or its absence—fundamentally alters aesthetic experience and creative processes.Conducted aboard a series of parabolic flights to simulate microgravity, the project investigated, through a rigorous scientific lens, how gravitational conditions shape sensory perception and artistic judgment. Drawing from cognitive neuroscience and vestibular research, The Zero Gravity Band developed an immersive audiovisual installation designed to simulate the perceptual disorientation of weightlessness. Through spatialized 3D sound and visual stimulation, the work induces vertigo-like sensations, inviting audiences to experience a phenomenological shift in their embodied sense of space.This pioneering research opens a new paradigm in the arts and human cognition—redefining how we conceive, experience, and design art beyond Earth. The findings hold potential implications not only for artistic creation in space, but also for the design of environments in long-duration space missions, contributing to the emerging field of space humanities.



CREDITS
Original Idea:
Albert Barqué-Duran & Marc Marzenit
Produced by:
QUOARTIS Foundation
Scientific Collaborators:
Vestibular Neuroscience Lab - Birkbeck, University of London
MIT - Opera of the future
City, University of London
Universitat de Lleida
Berlin School of Mind and Brain - Humboldt Universitat du Berlin
Supported by:
Ara Lleida
Diputació de Lleida
Ajuntament de Mollerussa
Universitat de Lleida - Consell Social
Collaborators:
Prof. Elisa Ferrè
EURECAT
IED Barcelona
Playmodes
Media Collaborators:
LaVanguardia
Segre