by Rebecca Edwards
MINIMAL RITUALS blurs the boundaries between humans, animals, and machines, and invites us to consider the ways in which technology can be used to reconnect with ourselves and each others through the mineral computation that surrounds us. Featuring a curated selection of works by Latin American artists, the exhibition celebrates the delicate encounters and serendipitous rituals that unfold at our fingertips while navigating the web.
The artists in MINIMAL RITUALS employ various mediums such as video, AI, sound, writing, and performance to transport us to alternate worlds where technology and ritual merge to create new forms of connection and community. By embracing the potential of technology to foster meaningful connections, the exhibition challenges us to reflect on how we can use technology to create a more interconnected and sustainable future.
screengrab of César Chirinos’s work on the plug in
During the event we had a panel discussion with Rebecca, Doreen, Sebastián, and Flavia. We spoke at length about image, ritual, shamanism, technologies, presenting online, connection in the digital, rethinking the idea of ancient creating etc.
Doreen said “one of the first things that I thought about the plugin was the notion of the ritual and how sometimes you know, all these pop ups and these you know, kind of like benevolent spam, if you will, sort of acted as a as a ritual in itself. And then I started thinking a lot about the ritual that we have or that we create With our devices with the ways in which we communicate online, and how that connects also to contemporary art production”
screengrab of Vica Pacheco’s work on the plug in
In a similar vein to Towards a Cosmotechnic Psychedelia , this exhibition and panel conversation spoke towards the collective notion of building together of creating new narratives from within. One of the main elements for the exhibition was rethinking the idea or the concept of technoshamanism; not by fetishising or romanticising indigenous technologies, but thinking about these in a general framework and what is different in terms of development of this ancient knowledge and these ancient technologies that permeate today.
During the panel we spoke about how these ancient technologies and knowledge always tie into the idea of care, of wellness and of building community and creating these worldly narratives in a way that feels inclusive and of “togetherness”.
Watch the panel discussion here
Looping back around to this idea of techno shamanism, Doreen wrote about the exhibition as looking at it from three perspectives: from the techno of shamanism, the shamanism of technology, and both of these together. Doreen said “all of the notion of techno shamanism that I am using here comes from the research by Fabiane M. Borges, and Viveiros de Castro… two researchers who have been working from within Brazil and particularly the Amazonian area of Brazil, and thinking about what technology means in this area and how the development of certain devices and technologies that normally come from very different geographies and a very different setting than what these ancient technologies are being created from.”
We went on to talk about the two sides of the research where they were reflecting upon the way a lot of these technologies feel like they are doing something that's very close or very similar to shamanic practices to do with connecting consciousnesses beyond the body. Within the development of the Internet, we can say that, in a way, we're sort of doing that too; not that we are removing like a bodily experience, of course, but connecting in a way with people who are not physically present in front of us.
screengrab of Ricardo Sierra’s work on the plug in
On the other hand, thinking about the materials and the devices, and the ways that these technologies are being put together as a collection of minerals that are being extracted from the earth. And that a lot of these minerals at some other point in time were also being used for other kinds of rituals that connected us to one another, to nature, to different dimensions, even. Ultimately, when considering modern technologies facilitating communication across geographical boundaries, we find ourselves engaged in a dual process. On one hand, we connect to a collective consciousness in various fields, and on the other, we must remain highly conscious of the materials enabling these connections.
And I think that, of course, we can expand on these conversation in terms of like, well, what does that mean, in 2023? Where we're thinking about the impact on nature from these extractions? And then also what's the impact on one another, on being online and sharing online? And particularly removing these one-on-one or face-to-face sort of experience, and particularly after 2020, I think that we've been able to rethink what does that mean, what does being together mean?
Another event as part of the exhibition was a performance by Concepción Huerta (CNCPCN). Presenting live sound from her work A-WAY FROM FICTION, the performance blended various sounds from different chapters of the new work, utilising green screen technology to reimagine her video piece as visual elements behind her. Enacted as a happening on the plug in, the event, like the other works, popped up somewhat unannounced. As the plugin delivers content directly to the viewer’s screen, as pop-up windows appearing at different times throughout a day, the act of having a performance, or talk appear in an instant provides a curious way to experience events. In general, the plugin provides an artistic ‘stopping cue’ from relentless scrolling, email notifications and other computer-centered work. Similar to push notification format on mobile devices, this new digital tool opens a direct channel of communication with audiences.
Watch Concepción Huerta’s performance here
With CNCPCN, this performance on the plugin allowed for experimental approaches to the notion of live-streaming, incorporating altered visuals on green-screen and sonic explorations in aural textures and narrative backgrounds with ambient and noise as pillars to the work. For CNCPCN, the work abbreviated her different disciplines, granting the stories of her imaginary sonic characters to appear in this state of mediation through software and hardware.
screengrab of Concepción Huerta’s performance on the plug in