Asprey Studio’s solo presentation of works by DEAFBEEF at Zero 10’s 2026 Basel edition brings together interactive audiovisual installations, hand-forged iron sculptures, generative artworks, and photographic works. Spanning sound, code, craftsmanship, and image-making, the presentation traces unexpected connections between historical and contemporary technologies.
Chronophotographs
Where pioneering English photographer Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) used sequential photography to analyse movement frame by frame, DEAFBEEF translates this logic into blockchain-based systems. Instead of a camera shutter, each image is generated using a specific blockchain “block number,” which updates roughly every twelve seconds. This number acts as a starting point (or seed) for creating a new image, capturing a moment in an ongoing sequence of motion, like an evolved version of Muybridge’s studies, but embedded in real time.
Each ‘Chronophotograph’ is created at the exact moment it is viewed, meaning no two are ever the same. The system can produce an endless number of images, but each viewer only experiences a finite selection. In this way, the work invites reflection on how we measure and understand time, and how tools like photography and blockchain can seem objective, yet still have limits in how they represent reality.
Glitchbox
‘Glitchbox’ (2021–25) is an interactive sculpture developed from DEAFBEEF’s earlier generative works, which you can engage with like a playable audiovisual instrument.
The sculpture is made from hand-forged iron and includes controls similar to the knobs and switches of a modular synthesizer. By adjusting these, visitors can change both the sound and visuals in real time, creating constantly shifting compositions. Each interaction produces a different result, so the work is never fixed and instead evolves with every use.
While driven by code and systems, the physical structure shows clear signs of the artist’s hand, with visible hammer marks and imperfections, introducing material presence and individuality into computational systems.
Synth Poems
‘Synth Poems’ (2021–26) is a series of generative audiovisual works stored on the blockchain, each paired with a hand-forged iron sculpture titled ‘Oscilloscope’.
Each digital piece is created at the moment it is minted, using a unique code (or hash) that determines its sound, such as tempo, pitch, and texture, resulting in a one-of-a-kind composition. Although the works are primarily audio-based, each one also includes a visual element generated directly from the sound itself, resembling the wave patterns seen on early digital screens and oscilloscopes.
The accompanying sculptures are inspired by analogue oscilloscopes, devices first developed in the late 19th century to visually display electrical signals over time. Still widely used in fields like engineering, medicine, and telecommunications, these instruments form a bridge between sound, data, and image.
To place the work in a broader historical context, the series is shown alongside original prints by Ben Laposky, a mathematician and artist who, in the 1950s, used oscilloscopes to create abstract visual compositions from electronic signals, an early example of merging technology and art.
