PARALELO - 2021 | |
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| Alina, my mother, was a very intelligent and successful woman who built her life out of her own innate talents as a psychic. She wrote a book in the 1970s, entitled Paralelo, that never got published because of the catholic churchs censorship, and the pressure of conservative forces in Colombia, her native country. In this book, way ahead of her time, she explores the connections between the physical and spiritual realms. She left her country for security reasons and moved to Aventura, Florida, USA, in 1999. After the murder of my older brother Diego, in 2008, Alina fell into a deep depression, followed by a progressive senile dementia, finally diagnosed in 2017. Forgotten by most of her family, including those who lived only 20 minutes away from her, she had to be accompanied 24 hours per day by her loyal aids, who after 5 years of constant presence, became her faithful confidants. In July of 2019, Zuzel, her dearest and closest nurse, videotaped herself reading the prologue of her book to my mom, resulting in a very intimate look at the emotions and very last memories of my mother, as well as a very crude look into the nature of dementia. Alinas health kept deteriorating, and in September 2020 she was diagnosed with terminal colorectal cancer, she had a colostomy surgery, and, unbeknown to us, she caught COVID19 during her stay in the hospital. Asymptomatic at first, she infected her three aids when she returned home. In spite of helping her and spending countless hours with Alina, I did not get infected at all, which is still a mystery to me. Both Zuzel and Alina started showing symptoms at the same time, and Alina had to be taken to hospice to be treated for her cancer and the coronavirus infection, while Zuzel quarantined at my moms place to avoid infecting her own family. We managed to see her on Facetime every day, and we got to say our virtual goodbyes. Alina died on Wednesday, October 7th, the day after I finished editing the first cut this film. The video had been planned for a few months, seen as a time travel piece to the 1970s when as a queer kid, I would wear my moms wig, cape, boots, belt, gloves and accessories to pretend I was Wonder Woman. I shot the volumetric video the night when she had her colostomy surgery, almost one month before her death. The entire production of this film was marked by her cancer, her surgery, her increasing dementia, the COVID19 pandemic, the Trump nightmare, the American electoral process, my remote teaching, and a feeling of knowing that at the end my mom had always been my Wonder Woman, the most powerful woman in my life. After hiding for over 11 years, my drag alter ego, Patty E. Patétik, reappeared in volumetric form to sing with me Gloria Gaynors "I will Survive", a song that has unexpectedly become an anthem of resilience for those of us who have been abused, forgotten, or affected by the loss of a loved one. The slowed down song reminds us that regardless of the adversities and the amount of shed tears, we all will survive. | |
Artist/Research Statement
I grew up in Bogotá, Colombia, a city where the mafia was blowing up buildings, and murdering people with drugs and bombs; AIDS was killing my friends, and death squads were threatening my life for being openly gay. Instead of seeking cover, I became a very visible New Media queer artist promoting change in my surroundings through video art, documentaries, performances and artivism.
I moved to New York in 1995 to get my Master's degree in Interactive Telecommunications just as the Internet was beginning to expand, and I immediately used the Web as a creative tool where all my art practice would come together, with a global perspective. The Internet has become the perfect tool to explore my passion for non-linear filmmaking, digital poetry, cyber-activism, creative code, photography, animation and interactive narration. I am using HTML5 / Javascript / CSS3, Processing and video tools to produce my works, continuously exploring new open source software and hardware.
With some emotional links still left in Colombia and now living permanently in the United States, my work has evolved into a study of how we perceive and recreate ourselves in a digital environment, inseparable from a political context. Aesthetically, I am interested in the dialog between low and high resolution imaging, exploding the pixel grid to push the possibilities of volumetric images, both as still portraits, and in motion.
Inspired by Christopher Isherwood's books, I use digital tools and interactive media to capture and save the memories of spaces, looks and attitudes of 2SLGBTQ+ communities around the world.
I grew up in Bogotá, Colombia, a city where the mafia was blowing up buildings, and murdering people with drugs and bombs; AIDS was killing my friends, and death squads were threatening my life for being openly gay. Instead of seeking cover, I became a very visible New Media queer artist promoting change in my surroundings through video art, documentaries, performances and artivism.
I moved to New York in 1995 to get my Master's degree in Interactive Telecommunications just as the Internet was beginning to expand, and I immediately used the Web as a creative tool where all my art practice would come together, with a global perspective. The Internet has become the perfect tool to explore my passion for non-linear filmmaking, digital poetry, cyber-activism, creative code, photography, animation and interactive narration. I am using HTML5 / Javascript / CSS3, Processing and video tools to produce my works, continuously exploring new open source software and hardware.
With some emotional links still left in Colombia and now living permanently in the United States, my work has evolved into a study of how we perceive and recreate ourselves in a digital environment, inseparable from a political context. Aesthetically, I am interested in the dialog between low and high resolution imaging, exploding the pixel grid to push the possibilities of volumetric images, both as still portraits, and in motion.
Inspired by Christopher Isherwood's books, I use digital tools and interactive media to capture and save the memories of spaces, looks and attitudes of 2SLGBTQ+ communities around the world.
Bio
Santiago Echeverry is a Colombian-American New Media Artist and Educator, with a background in Video Art, Performance Art, Interactive Media, and Artivism. Participating since 1989 in some of the most important film and media festivals in the world, Echeverry is considered a pioneer in Net Art and LGBTQ+ Filmmaking in Latin America. In 1992, he graduated top of the inaugural class of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia's Film and Television School. In 1995, he was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Grant to earn his Master's degree in Interactive Telecommunications at NYU. He started teaching at the University of Tampa in 2005, got tenured in 2009, and promoted to full Professor in 2022 as a founding member of the Film, Animation and New Media Department. His research is focused on front-end development, UI/UX, generative AI, and creative coding. All his projects are available online at www.santi.tv
Santiago Echeverry es un educador y artista de nuevos medios colombo-americano, egresado de la primera promoción de la Carrera de Cine y Televisión de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Desde muy temprano se dedicó a la exploración de las posibilidades creativas del video, la performancia y las tecnologías digitales, exhibiendo sus obras internacionalmente desde 1989. En 1995 obtuvo la beca Fulbright y recibió su Maestría en Telecomunicaciones Interactivas en NYU. Reside en los EEUU desde el 2003, concentrándose principalmente en el desarrollo de videos e imágenes digitales interactivas, participando en festivales internacionales tales como Siggraph, Siggraph Asia, FILE y el Japan Media Arts Festival, entre otros. Actualmente es Profesor de Nuevos Medios en la Universidad de Tampa, en la Florida. Toda su obra se encuentra en su sitio web www.santi.tv
Santiago Echeverry is a Colombian-American New Media Artist and Educator, with a background in Video Art, Performance Art, Interactive Media, and Artivism. Participating since 1989 in some of the most important film and media festivals in the world, Echeverry is considered a pioneer in Net Art and LGBTQ+ Filmmaking in Latin America. In 1992, he graduated top of the inaugural class of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia's Film and Television School. In 1995, he was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Grant to earn his Master's degree in Interactive Telecommunications at NYU. He started teaching at the University of Tampa in 2005, got tenured in 2009, and promoted to full Professor in 2022 as a founding member of the Film, Animation and New Media Department. His research is focused on front-end development, UI/UX, generative AI, and creative coding. All his projects are available online at www.santi.tv
Santiago Echeverry es un educador y artista de nuevos medios colombo-americano, egresado de la primera promoción de la Carrera de Cine y Televisión de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Desde muy temprano se dedicó a la exploración de las posibilidades creativas del video, la performancia y las tecnologías digitales, exhibiendo sus obras internacionalmente desde 1989. En 1995 obtuvo la beca Fulbright y recibió su Maestría en Telecomunicaciones Interactivas en NYU. Reside en los EEUU desde el 2003, concentrándose principalmente en el desarrollo de videos e imágenes digitales interactivas, participando en festivales internacionales tales como Siggraph, Siggraph Asia, FILE y el Japan Media Arts Festival, entre otros. Actualmente es Profesor de Nuevos Medios en la Universidad de Tampa, en la Florida. Toda su obra se encuentra en su sitio web www.santi.tv