2023

30-minute Vaulting slots prior to the NYC book release of Experience Design: A Participatory Manifesto. Each session holds 15 participants.

Vaulting is a consciousness-expanding experience set in a near future when humanity is moving beyond Earth, and delivers the first of several "genetic treatments" to become a photosynthetic being. The experience immerses participants in verdant sound and smell-scapes that encourage novel sensations and the expansion of self into that of a greater macro-organism.

Vaulting is free, but Venmo donations will be accepted at the experience

Saturday, 11/4/2023, 3- 3:30 pm and 3:30- 4 pm

Prime Produce Community Center, 424 W 54th St, Manhattan
Free sign up here: https://app.simplymeet.me/vaulting/30min?day=2023-11-04
Multisensory experience that includes taste, smell, sound, and more
Hand silk-screened merch will be for sale (t-shirts! tote bags! printed by me!)
Stay for the release of Odyssey Works' Abraham Burickson's new book (4- 6 pm)!! Explore the ideas in the book and get to know the NYC experience design community.

Read the NoPro Review

An excerpt: "The future feels increasingly bleak [...] This widespread pessimism has carried over into our fiction — speculative sci-fi, once hopeful, is mostly dystopia and darkness. But Tracy Smith, the biologist and creator behind This Yearning, is shining a light in the darkness.

Her most recent immersive experience, Vaulting, considers a future in which [...] we will, like the plants around us, learn to photosynthesize [...] the biggest change humans will need to make isn’t necessarily physical — it will be letting go of our individualism and, as Smith describes it, expanding our sense of self 'into that of a greater macro-organism.'

Told by another, less talented creator, that could sound hivemind-y — but under Smith’s deft artistry, it’s a beautiful idea...." – Cheyenne Ligon, NoPro

Download Project Description

Introduction to Vaulting

Thank you for booking a Vaulting session. You should receive an email confirmation. Vaulting will hopefully leave you feeling tingly, loved, and relaxed. Check out past participants’ comments in the photo gallery.

If you didn’t book a session yet, please do so at app.simplymeet.me/thisyearning/vaulting. Please note we are currently booking sessions for Saturday March 18th. Up to 5 participants can join a single session.

Although all 3/18 sessions are currently booked feel free to contact me, Tracy M Smith, and ask to be put on a waitlist for this or future events. I also encourage you to stop by the venue and I’ll try to squeeze you in :)

If you are interested in exploring the world of Vaulting prior to your visit, check out the exercise below. If you do not have access to the custom myrrh and sea-salt nasal inhaler, you can substitute with a nice tree resin, like sandalwood or pine.

This Introduction to Vaulting is meant to stimulate and pique curiosity, which some viewers may find a bit anxiety-provoking.

When you are ready to begin, find a quiet place where you can sit comfortably, without distraction, for 7 minutes.

Sit down and put on headphones.

Open the nasal inhaler (included with paper booklets) and place under your nose. Continue to breathe this scent throughout the video. Feel free to stop if at any point you become uncomfortable.

Make the video full screen and start the Introduction to Vaulting video.

When you’ve completed your session, feel free to share feedback on the survey.