[ complexity ]
[ ⟗ vectors ]
[ ⟗ vectors ]
Technically, Xilitla is a 3D video environment that can be installed or used as performance tool or video interface, to present video work outside of the cliches that conventional platforms and softwares impose.
In Xilitla, a Janus head searches to unlock a non-linear narrative. That tells the story of a transformation in which an image of the self is left behind - as the protagonists’ “eyes bend backwards”.
Originally, Xilitla is a little village in the Huasteca region of Mexico. Here, in the early 1940s, Sir Edward James – a poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement – started the construction of his own idyllic, surrealist pool garden, Las Pozas, in which he deconstructed the many forms and styles of functional architecture.
I was inspired to build Xilitla because of my search for an interface to play my Videoscapes in. In a way, it became a research into opening up the possibilties of (watching and displaying) video art, in which videos are no longer stuck in a quadrilateral frame.
In this interactive piece, ‘Xilitla’ has been transformed into a futuristic 3D architectural environment consisting of moving images, laced with polygons and dysfunctional objects such as a castle filled with walls and a staircase that goes to nowhere.
A Janushead is used to navigate the dreamscape that takes advantage of the tensions between gameplay and audiovisual art, while breaking outside of the square of video interfaces.
‘Xilitla’ exists as a free downloadable application, released in 2013.
In Xilitla, a Janus head searches to unlock a non-linear narrative. That tells the story of a transformation in which an image of the self is left behind - as the protagonists’ “eyes bend backwards”.
Originally, Xilitla is a little village in the Huasteca region of Mexico. Here, in the early 1940s, Sir Edward James – a poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement – started the construction of his own idyllic, surrealist pool garden, Las Pozas, in which he deconstructed the many forms and styles of functional architecture.
I was inspired to build Xilitla because of my search for an interface to play my Videoscapes in. In a way, it became a research into opening up the possibilties of (watching and displaying) video art, in which videos are no longer stuck in a quadrilateral frame.
In this interactive piece, ‘Xilitla’ has been transformed into a futuristic 3D architectural environment consisting of moving images, laced with polygons and dysfunctional objects such as a castle filled with walls and a staircase that goes to nowhere.
A Janushead is used to navigate the dreamscape that takes advantage of the tensions between gameplay and audiovisual art, while breaking outside of the square of video interfaces.
‘Xilitla’ exists as a free downloadable application, released in 2013.
An enhanced and expanded edition with three audiovisual video pieces documenting the work was acquired by the Museum of the Image in the Netherlands (MOTI) in 2014.
Xilitla was on display during the Istanbul moving image fair in 2015.
Download Xilitla for MAC || Windows || Linux
︎ Transfer Page || ︎ A paper by Kristoffer Gansing.
Xilitla was on display during the Istanbul moving image fair in 2015.
Download Xilitla for MAC || Windows || Linux
︎ Transfer Page || ︎ A paper by Kristoffer Gansing.
XILITLA WAS DEVELOPED DURING MY 2012 EMAP/EMARE RESIDENCY AT CENTRO DE LAS ARTES SAN LUIS POTOSÍ // CENTRO DE ARTE Y NUEVAS TECNOLOGÍAS (CANTE)
On the left, the fully unlocked narrative.
On the right of the same image the special custom controller ats installed at @moti.