Contextualizations: projecting the outside in

Contextualizations had been in my thoughts for quite a while before I was invited to the Calumet Artist Residency in Gary, IN, 2017. It was here where I dove into what has now become my long term artistic practice. The site-specific approach is based on refreshing our perspective of what is otherwise neglected by familiarity. I document everyday life-in-motion moments from my travels and project them within a home, bringing the world into intimate spaces. I video record the projections, creating material for my final pieces. Though I am using digital equipment, my process of real-time layering and minimal post-production gives each result an analog feel.

In residency, I collaborate with musician/composer Thollem, who gathers field recordings from the environment, mixes them with his own approach of layering to create the soundtrack. The resulting piece causes audiences to lose themselves within and outside of their familiar spaces, allowing them to experience their ‘known’ anew, seeing and hearing a place though their own filters of culture, mood and preconceptions.

Thollem/ACVilla RESIDENCIES include:
Livorno IT @ Teatrofficina Refugio
Santa Fe, NM @ Jonas
Poschiavo CH @ Uncool 
Amsterdam NL @ The Atelier
St. Erme FR @ Performing Arts Forum 
Porto PT @ Sonoscopia
Brooklyn, NY @ Pioneer Works 
Gary, IN @ Calumet Artist Residency

With ACVilla’s work, “there’s a continuous sense that things aren’t quite right but are still beautiful and intriguing.” – The Wire

Contextualizations in performance is
OBSTACLE ILLUSION
– eternity filtered through two artists at the center of a world on the edge –

Obstacle Illusion pairs ACVilla’s visuals with an electronic soundtrack by Thollem. ACVilla takes us on a visual journey utilizing unique techniques and approaches she has developed over the last decade.
Through multiple overlaying of live sonic and visual stimuli, the performance reveals subconscious thoughts and hidden memories. The experience is simultaneously pleasurable, challenging and intellectually stimulating.