SOZO’S COLLABORATION WITH LINCOLN CENTER AND NONA HENDRYX DRAWS OVER 9,000 PEOPLE

New York, NY - July 1, 2024 – The Dream Machine Experience (DME), a groundbreaking mixed reality experience created by music legend Nona Hendryx, and co-produced by SOZO, recently made a powerful debut at Lincoln Center. From June 12-30, over 9,000 attendees immersed themselves in this unique world that combines augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and game-like features to explore Afro-Futurism, intergenerational storytelling, and the power of community.

The Dream Machine Experience is an ambitious leap forward in entertainment, music, art, and immersive experiences. Conceived by Hendryx, in collaboration with renowned artists including Mickalene Thomas, George Clinton, Laurie Anderson, XR artist SUTU, Carrie Mae Weems, Vernon Reid, and botanical artist Lutfi Janania, DME merges multiple art forms, media, and disciplines. This imaginative world invites communities to gather, grow, and heal the past in the present for the future, illustrating that another world is possible.

Rooted in Afro-Futurism, DME unfolds through performances, storytelling, and interactive elements. Participants traverse an Afro-Futuristic Garden, interact with AR portals, and explore bespoke virtual spaces representing each artist's past, present, and future visions. These dynamic environments culminate in a performance starring a featured artist in the virtual venue. While it can be experienced solo, DME is designed as a shared experience because, as Nona Hendryx emphasizes, “all of us are smarter than any of us.”

Hendryx envisions DME as a way to liberate the concert from traditional settings: “to bring that liveliness, interactiveness, immediacy, wherever I want to be.” She likens walking through the experience’s “forest of ancestors”—a family tree of her influences—to musical time travel.

At 80, Hendryx continues to push creative boundaries, linking the origins of 20th-century rock and pop with the 21st-century sounds of virtual spheres. While young composers handle much of the coding, Hendryx has taken up programming herself, embodying her belief that "this is not technology that is separate from us. It is yet another extension of us."

During its activation at Lincoln Center, DME rolled out a robust calendar of activities, drawing an estimated 9,000 people over three weeks. It was a testament to the power of art, technology, and community in creating transformative experiences.

For more information on The Dream Machine Experience and its ongoing journey, visit www.sozomedia.com/dreammachine.