film/performance
Hybrid Film Performances
combining my two passions (Theater&Cinema)
Acting has been my passion since early age. While in Theater School in Chile, I worked with Elías Cohen, Gloria Salgado and Juan Carlos Montagna. All of these mentors navigated the world of physical acting and performance from different perspectives. I approach these disciplines combining my martial arts background as a way to understand the power of being present. I applied this knowledge when reading Richard Schechner's and Francisco Varela's theories about mind&body, embodiment, (en)actment, and I was fortunate to meet in person and establish a friendship with Phillip Zarrilli, who put into words many of these ideas through the concept of Psychophysical Acting.
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Today I'm developing a new way to show my 16mm film work by also creating psychophysical performances that complement and expand these pieces.
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After presenting "Render My Body" (2021) at Ars Electronica NYC and "Render My Body II" (2022), with the support of an FCA Emergency Grant, I created a new film/performance ensemble called "A body (sur)renders/Un cuerpo (se)rinde" (2022)
A BODY (SUR)RENDERS/
UN CUERPO (SE)RINDE
a hybrid film/performance
A Body (sur)renders/Un Cuerpo (se)rinde is a psychophysical hybrid film & live performance where images, audio and movement are intertwined for the audience to experience it as a single synchronized piece. The films included, shot over the past 4 years, are in itself a process of transformation and raw performances captured on 16mm film that address physical and psychological changes in the human body at a personal level. This hybrid film/performance is an intimate piece where I manifest who I am today as trans human and how this identity is deeply intertwined with me as an artist. (This project was supported, in part, by a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant.)
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Video excerpt of the performance presented on August, 2022 at Millennium Film Workshop
Photos by Kendall Burger
RENDER MY BODY II (STILLSUITE)
a hybrid multimedia/performance
Video Reel by Dolphin
'Render My Body II' (Video projection + Java coding + performance) was my first hybrid film & live performance experiment, where I explore what it means to inhabit a trans/queer body in the context of a world that has rendered our bodies as vulnerable.
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For this new version of the hybrid video/performance I utilized the original renders designed by The Glad Science and a layering of recordings that are documentations of my voice change after 10 months of HRT. I also collaborated with Erin Wajufos, digital artist who used p5.js coding to alter the dna of the images captured live by a webcam. P5.js is a JavaScript library for creative coding, with a focus on making coding accessible and inclusive for artists, designers & educators.
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In the future I would like to develop more hybrid projects where film and performance become an immersive experience for the audience.
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A new version of this performance was shown at Millennium Film Workshop as part of the
StillSuite A/V Performance Showcase
July 30, 2022
RENDER MY BODY (ARS ELECTRONICA)
a hybrid film/performance
Watch a short clip of the full performance presented at the 2021 NYC Ars Electronica
In "Render my body" I explore what it means to inhabit a queer body in today's world.
The project consists of different layers of visualization: a 16mm film/performance, the projection of this film onto my body, a psychophysical choreography and the rendering of a non-binary avatar by The Glad Scientist, all put together in a roughly 20min live performance.
For the creation of the avatar I asked The Glad Scientist to help me design a character that represents my queer body in transition. The avatar is shaped after my current body structure, pushing some physical attributes to blur the boundaries of cis-het notions of the body while it also resembles a humanoid figure that once appeared in a dream I had many years ago when I first came to the U.S. In this dream I was surrounded by a group of blue&purple genderless beings that were taking me into the ocean, in a harbor off the coast of New York City. I could see myself abandoning my old life inland and becoming one of them.
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The avatar is meant to continue their transition along with mine IRL being informed by my gender identity as trans non-binary, dream visions and current events changing the restrictions in our current society of survival (in reference to Byung-Chul Han's article)
This performance was first shown at Culture Lab LIC
September 11, 2021