A project by Bîstyek · 2026
IMABOX
Imagination
outgrows the box.
IMABOX brings five imagined characters into the world through large-scale inflatables, sound, and augmented reality. Inspired by childhood cartoons, anime, and superheroes, the project explores imagination, movement, and freedom.
Discover the project ↓
Imagination + box
Artist statement.
“You can box the body.
You cannot box
the imagination.”
IMABOX takes its name from two words: imagination and box.
A box can take many forms: a physical space, a border, or the expectations placed around a body or an identity. IMABOX begins with the idea that while a body can be contained, imagination can move beyond those limits.
The five characters draw from the animated worlds I grew up watching—worlds where transformation, flight, and extraordinary possibilities were part of everyday life. Their bright colours, wings, and exaggerated scale carry that sense of possibility into the present.
The wings are central to the work. They represent movement and the freedom to leave, explore, and imagine yourself somewhere else. Through inflatables, sound, and augmented reality, these characters move between physical and digital spaces, inviting people to encounter them in their own surroundings.
— Bîstyek
The inflatables.
Five characters, approximately fourteen feet tall, illuminated from within.
Nuit Blanche Winnipeg · 2026
Childhood heroes, reimagined
Five illuminated inflatable characters give physical scale to something that began in imagination. Figures drawn from childhood become larger than our own bodies.
A starting point
Behind the work.
Growing up in Syria, I watched cartoons and imagined worlds beyond the small room around me. That memory is one starting point for IMABOX: something once imagined in a small space now exists at a scale much larger than my own body.
An evolving component
Sound.
Sound is part of IMABOX’s evolving form. The sound component is being reimagined, with a new piece planned for a future version of the project.
The Nuit Blanche Winnipeg 2026 presentation featured a sound piece by Steve & Danny.
Meet the characters
Augmented reality.
The AR component allows the characters to appear beyond the installation, in places chosen by the viewer. It extends their movement into everyday surroundings, carrying the project’s idea of imagination beyond physical boundaries.
Play with the characters below: tap or click to send one flying, and drag to turn it. Access to the AR experience is shared separately by the artist.
Tap to fly · Drag to turn · Returns to the crew
Credits.
