Jake Zaslav

Community Fellow

A photo of Jake wearing a blue sweater holding a trumpet.

Jake Zaslav is a trumpeter, video producer, and independent researcher based in New York City. He’s worked with organizations and programs such as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and HelloFresh. His research draws upon his background in jazz, film, and immersive technology to explore the intersections of sound, media, race, and the environment. 

In 2020, Jake Zaslav and violinist, Cate Byrne formed the group, Half Moon Island. The duo combines field recordings with creative music and experimental media to produce immersive works that explore the intersections of environment and technology, and past and future. Their most recent project, Wish You Were Here: Music for Endangered Ecosystems, investigates the sound of climate change by mixing field recordings from critically endangered ecosystems with electroacoustic music. From pieces exploring the ironbark forests of New South Wales to the tallgrass prairies of Oklahoma, Wish You Were Here asks the question of what we leave behind as we move forward into the future.

Project Description

Delancey 2222 is an audiovisual work by Half Moon Island that pairs images of Delancey Street in the year 2222, racked by the effects of climate change, with the sounds and stories of the community today. Using an AI art workflow informed by environmental data modeling, the project will generate images that predict what the Lower East Side will look like in 199 years. Oral histories from local residents and community members will be combined with field recordings of day-to-day life to create a musical suite about the past, present, and future of Delancey St. The final exhibit will consist of three banners featuring the AI-generated art with the music playing from speakers on either side.