Agape Meditation

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AGAPE Meditation is a contemplative media installation created by Andrew F. Scott and the LightSquad in collaboration with spiritual teacher Dr. Ruben Habito and the ATEC LightSquad at UT Dallas. Commissioned during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic for the exhibition Remember. Breathe. Dream, curated by Cara Mía Theatre at the Latino Cultural Center, the work responds to a moment of global rupture with a gesture of stillness, reflection, and healing.

Guided by Habito’s poetic meditation What Faith Looks Like, the installation transformed the theater into a spatialized ritual. Viewers were not seated in traditional rows but instead were placed onstage, facing an empty auditorium. The rear wall, usually hidden, became the central projection surface, activated by slowly evolving abstract imagery and ambient sound design. This inversion of the viewing experience became a core conceptual gesture: centering presence through absence, and transforming the void into a site of emotional resonance.

The title AGAPE, referencing a form of selfless, unconditional love, guided the ethos of the project. Rather than offer resolution or distraction, the installation held space for grief, uncertainty, breath, and quiet resilience. The visuals echoed the meditative cadence of Habito’s voice, shifting between organic textures and luminous gradients. The soundscape, composed by Roxanne Minnish, deliberately rejected traditional musical time, inviting participants into a timeless emotional atmosphere. Matthew Unkenholz designed a cueing system that embedded randomness in the presentations, ensuring that no two shows would be the same.

The project was developed entirely through distributed, remote collaboration. Students, alumni, faculty, and staff contributed from across Texas, navigating both creative and emotional labor amid lockdown conditions. Critiques were held on Zoom, files were exchanged via Box and Dropbox, and the process became a lived practice of care, mirroring the contemplative intention of the final installation. Technical Director Matthew Unkenholz created a custom cueing system that ensured each viewing was unique, and student editor Koby Wheeler synthesized dozens of contributions into a unified key video sequence.

At its core, AGAPE was a space for listening. It asked nothing of the viewer but presence. In a time when many sought answers, it offered instead an invitation to pause, to reflect, and to begin again.

AGAPE Meditation also functioned as a pedagogical experiment. While not tied to a formal course, the project exemplified ATEC’s ethos of “Intentional Future Making,” encouraging the use of emerging media in service of cultural, emotional, and spiritual inquiry. It modeled a horizontal studio culture where students assumed professional responsibilities and collaborated closely with faculty and alumni, fostering both mentorship and mutual respect.

The work was recognized with a TACA Pop-Up Grant for artistic innovation and public accessibility during COVID-19, and received coverage from outlets including Art & Seek, CultureMap Dallas, and The Dallas Morning News. Most significantly, it became a catalyst for further work: its emotional clarity and quiet strength led to the commission of 20 Years in 20 Minutes, a large-scale immersive installation for the Eisemann Center.