I work with tactile objects that then become interactive elements

FAR AWAY, INSTALLATION

Two-month solo show The Wild Project. Nov 2015- February 2016 “Far Away” is a multi-platform ( documentary shorts,  fine art, interactive installations) project on poetry and politics in Nicaragua. Participants include previous Vice President (and 2017 César Award winner) Sergio Ramirez. When approached, a large projection of a volcano begins to disintegrate. Simultaneously, illustrations of the poem The Drowned Horse appear on the opposite side of the room. “Far Away, installation” demonstrates the US’s propensity towards disruption, represented by a volcano in which is affected by our very presence. The volcano’s “lava” is the imagery of the poem spilling into the room. The poem is The Drowned Horse by Pablo Antonio Cuadra warned of the US invasion of Nicaragua. The imagery is also in physical form (drawings on paper) on the third wall of the space.

Video of Show

El caballo ahogado / The Drowned Horse from Artola Digital on Vimeo.

Drowned Horse 2016 watercolor on paper 9×15

  photos

BACKGROUND I am of Nicaraguan descent and began filming in Nicaragua during visits in Nov. 2013 and November 2015.

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10th Annual OptoSonic Tea at PIONEER WORKS

video

April 2017 Projections: Line drawings responding to environmental audio

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The Man from Eritrea

EV GALLERY 621 East 11th St New York, NY 10009.  July 16th 2021-August 13th 2021

In May I visited Casa Marianella a shelter for refugees in Austin Texas, where I interviewed several of the residents.  Here is where I met Dawit Kahsay, a refugee from Eritrea, who was the inspiration for this piece.

Paintings, motion-activated interactive projections, and scrolling a projection (all night 7pm until 7am) of a word-for-word conversation I had with Dawit Kahsay as he described his travels from Eritrea Africa to Texas 

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December 6th 2014 -January 16 2015

Audio plays when you are close to these drawings, a poem is whispered

audio-activated- whispers when approached “wing painting 5″, watercolor, pencil, charcoal, acrylic

 

audio activated- whispers when approached “wing painting 2”, watercolor, pencil, charcoal, acrylic

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THE PROBLEM OF MEMORY Solo show at Harvestworks. April 2015

A show on memories as objects. When participants talk into one of the provided microphones,  the visuals are impacted — and this impact is recorded and looped in the next visual rotation— creating a permanent mark. Participants can listen using earphones to the various tracks created

Harvestworks solo show

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SANCTUARY CITY

 Residency at Governors Island. Autumn 2017

Five wall size paintings of refugee land with audio activated projected arabic text on the floor and through the windows. The Arabic is a poem on traveling across the Mediterranean sea, written by an anonymous Syrian refugee. The final show included a live performance with vocal artist Ami Yamasaki

“Sanctuary” October 2017, performance

Canada 2017: 17 X 14, Acrylic and charcoal on paper

wall-sized landscape 1 Governors island Oct 2017 7ft x 3 ft

Ami Yamasaki performs at the closing of the show

Ami Yamasaki performs at the closing of the show

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eyes of models, Pier 59 Studios, October 2015

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I’M NOT TELLING YOU WHAT TO DO, BUT YOU HAVE TO DO IT, part two

5-month installation at Silent Barn, August 2015-January 2016

Braille lights are projected when you walk up the stairs. The staircase is lined with canvasses of sewed braille that say” I am not telling you what to do but you have to do” which is a line from a narration by someone I met in Nicaragua. As you walk up the stairs, you activate the entire narrative, which discusses the role of American imperialism as creator of Central American poverty.

light braille

” I am not telling you what to do but you have to do”. Hand sewn canvass of this narration.

Silent barn, three month projection installation,  2015: audio generated braille machine. Says ““I’m not telling you what to do, but you have to do it.” 

   

Braille canvass

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––––––––––––––––––––––––Two shows with Hitomi Honda

IMPROVISAION/ ETHNOGRAPHY

1. January 2018 Interactive visuals with pianist Hitomi Honda at the New York University PhD Waverly Labs for Music and Computing for AV showcase. Un-rehearsed improvisation with only the theme of allowing for mistakes (as in the title) and the non-stop mistakes of humanity. To explore the theme of ethnography, I show hand made drawings and Arabic refugee poetry,  as well as a video of a starling murmuration. 

 2. Cornelias Street CafeAudio Activated projection using APE to Hitomi Honda’s piano; “Sound Traffic” 2018 show at Cornelia Street Cafe

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my original APE software

Photos of Events using APE

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2013, Mountain video projected on trees Ulster County, NY with Share

2013, Mountain video projected on trees Ulster County, NY with Share

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Ear to Earth festival, 2014https://vimeo.com/46558865

Coney Island Mandala-site specific, Coney Island amphitheater 2011 

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Tracked Pastures

Lou Rossi mix 2

Pan Am music video 

“Cloak”

 more videos 

 

“Transformer lady”2011  shown at Good bye Blue Monday

 friend of the night (shown at The Dome at PS1/MoMA) 

Bird

Bright Air, 2010 music by David McChesney

APE at old can factory 2011

Many of my projection are made using my original software “APE” ( co-created with programmer Thomas Martinez)

LAUDS, Lea Bertucci & Megan Moncrief at the “Ab Uno Pluribus” Visuals by Ursula Scherrer & Miah Artola

audio activated drawings “deerland” deers generated with traffic sounds

 

“Bird and Wolf”

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