Conceptual Works
Cirque-itry
Cirque-itry: Reimagining the body through a synthesis of circus and technology aims to reposition circus within contemporary performance and new media art discourse, demonstrating its potential to interrogate the human experience in our increasingly digital world.
Cirque-itry: Reimagining the body through a synthesis of circus and technology aims to reposition circus within contemporary performance and new media art discourse, demonstrating its potential to interrogate the human experience in our increasingly digital world.
Cirque-itry: Reimagining the body through a synthesis of circus and technology aims to reposition circus within contemporary performance and new media art discourse, demonstrating its potential to interrogate the human experience in our increasingly digital world.
Cirque-itry: Reimagining the body through a synthesis of circus and technology aims to reposition circus within contemporary performance and new media art discourse, demonstrating its potential to interrogate the human experience in our increasingly digital world.
PERFORMANCE, VIDEO, WEARABLE ELECTRONICS
CONTEXT
Cirque-itry: Reimagining the body through a synthesis of circus and technology aims to reposition circus within contemporary performance and new media art discourse, demonstrating its potential to interrogate the human experience in our increasingly digital world.
In this project, I explore aerial acrobatics as a means to investigate the relationship between bodies and technology. In an effort to revitalize circus as a site for artistic innovation, I created a technology-enabled wearable using Adafruit sensors and LEDs that change color in response to the movements in an aerial performance. By reframing the relationship between the body and its apparatus through these technological interjections, my thesis not only reimagines the intellectual possibilities of circus arts but also contributes to broader conversations about the intersections of technology, embodiment, and conceptual art.
Early experiments
For the initial phase of this investigation, I began experimenting with low fidelity prototypes that explored bodily relationships with a specific aerial apparatus, the aerial hoop (or lyra). The wearables responded to the unique characteristics of the aerial hoop by emphasizing emblematic motions of the apparatus such as exertion, rotation, and contortion. I named the three stages the Jellyfish, Mermaid, and Starfish Experiments, wherein each bodysuit corresponded to a specific quality of aerial movement.
Various Iterations of the Mermaid, Jellyfish, and Starfish Experiments,
Leotard, athletic garments, reflective tap, glow lights, LED strips, 2025
Prototyping
My low-fidelity investigations were all preparation for creating a high-fidelity prototype for a motion-responsive circus garment. To execute this, I spent 15 weeks learning Arduino circuitry and programing. Using devices such as the LilyPad Arduino USB board, Lilypad Accelerometer, and Adafruit Circuit Playground Express, I experimented with integrating the Arduino or Adafruit sensors with Adafruit NeoPixels to control the color output of the LEDs. Throughout the process, I collected motion data from my circus training and tested various prototypes that would contribute to the final product.
Prototype 1 for Tech-enabled Wearable and Demonstration of Device,
Thread, Embroidery Hoop, Adafruit NeoPixel 16 Pixel Ring, LilyPad Arduino USB board, Lilypad Accelerometer,
2025
Prototype 2 for Tech-enabled Wearable and Demonstration of Device,
Compression Glove, Thread, Elastic Bands, Adafruit Circuit Playground Express,
2025
Prototype 3 for Tech-enabled Wearable and Demonstration of Device,
Athletic Shirt, Thread, Adafruit NeoPixel LED Chain, Adafruit Circuit Playground Express,
2025
Documentation
Prototype 3 is the latest and most refined iteration of the motion-responsive circus garment. The LEDs on the Adafruit NeoPixel Dot Strand and Adafruit Circuit Playground Express are programed to change color according to motion data captured by the Circuit Playground’s built-in accelerometer. Readings on the XYZ axis are mapped to RGB values to create constantly morphing colors across the LED Strand. The program includes light animations that are triggered by specific motion readings. For instance, high-force spins generate a twinkling pattern with a pre-defined selection of warm colors. Then, when the force drops at the end of a spin, the lights transition to a cool-toned breathing pattern.
Using costumes and makeup, I transformed into a cyborg, embodying the integration of technology and organicism that this project seeks to explore. The accompanying video demonstrates the wearable’s capabilities while also drawing further connections to the themes of naturalism, spirituality, techno-humanism, and transcendence.
Prototype 3 for Cirque-itry: The Cyborg Experiments,
Digital Photography, 2025
Photo Credit: Kristi Alyssa
Cirque-itry: Reimagining the body through a synthesis of circus and technolog,
Digital Video, 2025
Video Credit: Kristi Alyssa
Prototype 3 for Cirque-itry: The Cyborg Experiments,
Digital Video, 2025
Bluebeared in Ohio
TRANSMEDIA STORYTELLING, DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY, COLLAGE
CONTRIBUTORS: OSCAR SOLIS, MARIO NODAL
Bluebeard in Ohio: A True Crime Podcast is a group multimedia art project reinterpreting the fairytale of Bluebeard as a modern true crime narrative. The piece reimagines the notorious murderer as a nefarious Ohio-based real-estate mogul with an obsessive affinity for historical serial killers and propensity for "misplacing" girlfriends.
The Project culminated in two podcast episodes accompanied by a fake research archive hosted on a mock website. We intentionally mimicked the style of amateur investigators and websleuths who capitalize on acts of violence and our own morbid fascination with them. Through fabricated evidence and phony primary sources, we illuminated the latent themes of bystander culpability in the original Bluebeard story while also commenting on the contemporary phenomena of sensationalizing true crime.
Evidence
I contributed nearly twenty artifacts ranging from tangible, blood-soaked evidence to gory photoshopped images that wove the story of a studious psychopath and the harrowing fate of his female victims. The photographs intentionally mimic the objective yet discerning aesthetics of crime scene photography, meant to appear raw and detached. This is supplemented by evidence pertaining to the killer himself, including historical artifacts alluding to the murderer's copycat nature and a personal journal provided by one of the other collaborators. This interpretation both draws attention to the persistent “culture of silence” surrounding the patriarchal oppression of women in society and examines the audience’s own voyeuristic relationship to narratives of violence.
Collection of Artifacts from Bluebeard in Ohio Evidence,
Mixed Media in the Style of Criminal Dossiers, 2024
Website Walkthrough
Video Walkthrough of "Bluebeard in Ohio" Podcast Website, 2024
Video Credit: Oscar Solis
