La Ofrenda | 2019

Audiovisual installation 2019
Variable dimensions
Guitar, transmitter, transducer, radios, candles, flowers

La Ofrenda, is an installation inspired by the artist’s experience of being in remission from a brain tumor and asks how do we find hope when greeting death. This installation expresses these sentiments by exploring the wonder found in the specter of death through the transformation of the sounds and images of the artist’s Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) into an enchanted audiovisual altar. This work finds inspiration in the altars found in the homes and businesses of Mexicans during the Dia de Muertos, a time of the year where one is able to communicate with the souls of the departed.

The fog of chemo and numbness of radiation. The brain surgery. Paralysis. The seizure that exposed it all. The sterile sounds of the hospital. One must find a way to survive.

This sonic offering harnesses the sounds of the artist's MRI through transducers attached to the strings and the body of the guitar. The result is a blend of musical notes, machine noise, and radio frequencies. In turn these sounds control video images of his MRI, installed inside an old tube radio. This work vicariously explores the artist's mortality in an effort to reconcile his understanding of impermanence.

The documentation of the work presents the variable dimensions the work can be installed from the Agence Topo vitrine from Nov 1 - December 21, 2019 to a large gallery space taken at Eastern Bloc in June 2018