MARYLIZ BENDER

I have dedicated my life to sharing transformative perspectives that inspire awe and wonder and expand the way we see ourselves in time and space. A performer and immersive artist, I help translate the ineffable into shared, embodied experience.

As Creative Director at IMXP, I co-design celestial gatherings that bring the cosmic perspective down to Earth and invite us to imagine and co-create more connected, intentional futures together.

As annu, I create records, shows, and immersive audio-visual experiences that explore topics of human evolution and the ever-present beauty all around us. I have produced albums and toured the world several times over, feeding my passion for experience design as a powerful form of transformative storytelling.

I co-founded Cosmic Perspective to tell the exhilarating story of this immense age of human exploration through films, Mixed Reality experiences, and live immersive shows.

I am a human conduit, explorer, and techno-optimist, reverent to our ancient roots, with eyes fixated on deep space and mind on deep time.

SONIC + IMMERSIVE ARTIST

As an artist and technologist, I am deeply inspired by the ways that we use and design technology to enhance our humanity, creativity, and connection—to ourselves, one another, nature, and the future. I lead workshops with my new favorite technology, the MI.MU gloves, which are ever-enhancing the way I express and create. Follow my journey.

In the last decade, I’ve produced several albums and served as composer, drummer/singer, and tour manager—playing my favorite venues and music festivals on a several-year tour, continuously feeding my passion for multimedia stage production as a powerful form of transformative storytelling and connection.

Annu: Music Producer
Twin Limb: Composer, drummer, singer, co-producer
Kwieta: Composer, singer, co-producer
Jim James: Drummer/percussionist, singer

SPACE STORYTELLER

Inspired by The Overview Effect—a term first coined by a dear friend, Frank White, in 1986—my journey began with a quest to understand what was happening to our space travelers. Through research and interviews with astronauts, I discovered that The Overview Effect provokes a life-changing shift in identity and awareness with an elevated empathy for all living things. They return to Earth as conservationists, humanitarians, and artists, determined to share their new perspectives with the rest of the world. Many of the experiences I design have the goal of bringing this cosmic perspective down to Earth.

My journey led me to the launchpads of Cape Canaveral, where I met my partner, Ryan Chylinski. In 2018, we co-founded Cosmic Perspective to tell the awe-inspiring story of this grand human adventure through immersive films and shows, mixed reality experiences, and large-scale events. Over the years, we built an amazing community of people who are eager to advance and engage in this exciting new space era.

In 2020, we joined forces with Everyday Astronaut to aid in his livestream and filming infrastructure. I was fortunate enough to spend several years producing livestreams and the Astro Awards event, which celebrated the human achievements of our exhilarating new space age.