APARICIONES is a media art project by Paula Ábalos that explores transitional states of consciousness between wakefulness and sleep, and the phenomena that arise within them, such as lucid dreaming, out-of-body experiences, and hypnagogic hallucinations. The project is rooted in studies at a dream laboratory, where scientists investigate these phenomena using software that enables real-time communication with sleepers. The research for this project has been done in collaboration with neuroscience researcher Teresa Campillo-Ferrer from the Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging at Radboud University (Nijmegen), where Ábalos also participated as a study subject.

By weaving together scientific material and visual experimentation, this project gives form to inner states that are often difficult to represent. The project also examines the gap between measurable data collected in the lab and the lived experiences of participants, drawn from their testimonies, while exploring the blurred boundaries between reality and imagination (or the dreamlike), as well as between objectivity and subjectivity.

The website hosts a non-hierarchical archive related to these liminal states, made up of research material, texts, sketches, artworks, and exhibitions views.

Project supported by KUNSTFONDS 2024.