The Serpent and The Dragonfly by Ina Conradi

Mark Chavez and Ina Conradi

At its core, the Dragonfly symbolizes actionable change, realized through the recognition of reality as a self-created illusion, while the Serpent evokes ancestral knowledge and spiritual reflection.

This show continues our legacy of contentdriven art by embracing the liminal—where Indigenous knowledge systems encounter fractured urban realities, and ancient symbology converges with hyper-modern circuitry.

Marking their return to Los Angeles after two decades in Singapore, Ina Conradi and Mark Chavez offer a renewed exploration of how emerging technologies can serve as instruments of memory, resistance, and reimagination.

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Supported by

I looked up at the sky as the wind whispered around me, my thoughts reaching into the vast unknown.

From the highest vault of the universe, a monstrous dragonfly’s head gleams, reflecting shifting echoes of time.

It strikes at the hand of the unbound maker, in the endless void.

It drinks blood pooled in a quiet chamber, the blood seeping through stone and memory. Now, release it—

To the unravelling creator, To the chasm where light fades.

Brinton, D. G. (1882). The Maya Chronicles. D. G. Brinton. Roys, R. L. (1965). The Ritual of the Bacabs. University of Oklahoma Press. Recinos, A. (1954). Popol Vuh:

The Sacred Book of the Ancient Quiché Maya. University of Oklahoma Press.

Mark Chavez and Ina Conradi

50 Studio on Fig: A New Chapter

In an era where the vestiges of colonial visuality persist through industrial detritus and digital fragmentation, Decolonial & Post-Industrial Collage Aesthetics emerges as a methodological intervention—a rupture in the hegemonic linearity of time, history, and authorship. This aesthetic mode operates at the nexus of decolonial resistance, the materiality of industrial decline, and the anarchic absurdity of Dada and Surrealist traditions. It interrogates the palimpsestic nature of post-industrial landscapes, excavating the ruins of imperialist modernity and reassembling them through an antihierarchical, radically hybridized visual grammar. Rooted in Dadaist détournement and Surrealist automatism, this practice rejects traditional Western compositional strategies in favor of the non-linear, the fragmented, and the subversively recontextualized. By appropriating and reconfiguring discarded colonial imagery, neon-lit commercial wreckage, ephemeral digital glitches, and obsolete technologies, these works resist the aesthetic homogeneity imposed by capitalist realism. The act of reassembly from the wreckage of empire becomes an aesthetic praxis that unsettles dominant narratives, reclaiming space for alternative histories, lost epistemologies, and speculative futures. The postindustrial aspect of this aesthetic is not incidental; it is integral to the material condition of contemporary visual culture. As urban centers undergo cycles of capitalist extraction and abandonment, their detritus—billboards, shattered glass, obsolete technology—becomes an archive of dispossessed realities. By integrating these elements into a collaged surrealist framework, artists transform industrial refuse into a site of memory and resistance. The absurd juxtaposition of the sacred and the synthetic, the ancient and the mass-produced, exposes the unstable foundations of Western modernity and its aesthetic logic. This aesthetic also engages deeply with the materiality of media itself, rejecting the polished ideals of seamless digital production in favor of raw, fragmented, and layered aesthetics. In embracing imperfections, disruptions, and unexpected outcomes, these works challenge the relentless drive for hyper-efficiency and flawless resolution. Instead, they foreground the generative potential of error and the beauty of unpredictability as integral aspects of artistic production. By disrupting traditional visual narratives, these works reveal new ways of seeing and thinking about the intersection of technology, culture, and identity. Within the decolonial framework, this mode of collage operates as a visual counter-inscription, dismantling the spectacle of colonial nostalgia that permeates contemporary cultural production. Instead of reaffirming the sanitized past, these works embrace the rupture—fragments of Mesoamerican glyphs glitching into hyper-modern circuitry, Indigenous cosmologies overlaid on broken urban infrastructure, spectral traces of erased histories reanimated through radical reassembly. This aesthetic intervention reveals the liminal space where temporalities collapse, forging an anti-colonial surrealism that refuses assimilation into the dominant order.

Drawing from the anti-rationalist provocations of Dada, this aesthetic approach is neither purely destructive nor purely restorative—it is a strategic embrace of entropy and absurdity as tools of liberation. It revels in the rupture, the glitch, the incomplete and unstable, rejecting the notion that histories can be neatly reconstructed. Instead, it insists on the right to disorder, to non-linearity, to an existence beyond the consumable, commodified image. As Hito Steyerl asserts in In Defense of the Poor Image, the degraded, the ephemeral, and the fragmented hold within them the potential for new forms of solidarity and insurgent visibility.

Ultimately, Decolonial & Post-Industrial Collage Aesthetics proposes a methodology of visual disruption, a space where the refuse of empire is reconstituted into an architecture of resistance. By collapsing categories, distorting hierarchies, and celebrating the incoherent, this aesthetic refuses the imposed clarity of colonial order. Instead, it revels in the spectral, the layered, the unstable—a radical vision of past, present, and future colliding into an insurgent visual field.

The creation of Transcripción de texto unfolded through a structured, iterative process that combined continuous refinement, critical reflection, and thematic synthesis. Originating from foundational concepts in decolonial theory, postindustrial aesthetics, and the traditions of surrealist and Dadaist art, the text evolved across multiple drafts—each iteration expanding, clarifying, and sharpening its theoretical intent. Early versions introduced key themes: a critique of colonial visual legacies, the reappropriation of industrial detritus, and the application of anti-hierarchical visual grammar inspired by early avant-garde movements. With each revision, the statement deepened its engagement with decolonial discourse and post-industrial conditions, incorporating increasingly precise language around

ideas such as “palimpsestic landscapes” and “radically hybridized aesthetics.” The process also drew on critical theory, including Hito Steyerl’s In Defense of the Poor Image, to ground the work in a broader intellectual framework. Particular care was taken to balance academic rigor with expressive clarity, resulting in a text that is both accessible and conceptually robust. Throughout, iterative feedback loops guided subtle shifts in phrasing and emphasis, aligning the final version with the exhibition’s overarching curatorial vision. The resulting wordArt statement is a synthesis of conceptual depth, formal experimentation, and methodological hybridity—embodying the intersection of decolonial critique, surrealist strategies, and post-industrial poetics.

Avenue 50 Studio on Fig: A New Chapter

Avenue 50 Studio was born in 2000 out of a simple need for creative space. What started as my personal photography studio quickly transformed into a gathering place for artists and community members hungry for representation, dialogue, and change. Over the years, we became more than a gallery—we became a cultural sanctuary rooted in Latinx identity, artistic resistance, and collective memory.

For 25 years, our space in Highland Park hosted hundreds of exhibitions, poetry readings, tenant rights meetings, and grassroots events. It became a vital part of the cultural ecosystem of Northeast Los Angeles—amplifying voices that mainstream institutions often overlooked.

As gentrification closed in, we fought hard to stay, until the inevitable came in 2024 with a final notice to vacate.

But this is not the end of our story. It’s the beginning of a new one.

We are proud to open our doors once again—this time at 3714 N. Figueroa Street, at the border of Highland Park and Cypress Park. Our new home, Avenue 50 Studio on Fig, is more intimate, but it carries the same soul, the same commitment to art as a tool for transformation and truth-telling.

Our inaugural exhibition in this space, The Serpent and the Dragonfly, marks a significant moment in the evolution of Avenue 50. It is our first show centered on digital media, artificial intelligence, and immersive installation. The exhibition features the work of Mark Chavez and Ina Conradi, longtime collaborators whose practice blends cultural archetypes with experimental interpretations of existence. Based between Singapore and Los Angeles, Mark (of Amerindian descent) and Ina (of Slavic heritage) are presenting their first solo exhibition in L.A. after two decades of living and working in Southeast Asia. Their large-scale, AI-inflected artworks—recently shown on monumental media facades across China—bring them back to their roots with this deeply personal and poetic debut in their hometown.

Within a decolonial framework, The Serpent and the Dragonfly acts as a visual counter-inscription—disrupting the spectacle of colonial nostalgia that persists in contemporary culture. Through glitch aesthetics, digital collages, and reassembled cosmologies, the artists confront erased histories and propose new, radical imaginaries.

This show continues our legacy of content-driven art by embracing the liminal—where Indigenous knowledge systems intersect with fractured urban realities, where ancient symbology merges with hyper-modern circuitry. In doing so, The Serpent and the Dragonfly reflects the transformation of our physical space, and signals our expanded vision: to explore how emerging technologies can serve as instruments of memory, resistance, and re-imagination.

Avenue 50 Studio on Fig will remain a space where art educates, agitates, and connects. This new chapter is smaller in size, but deeper in intention. We invite you to grow with us.

Ina Conradi & Mark Chavez

Kathy Gallegos Founder and Director, Avenue 50 Studio on Fig

Media Art Nexus

Conradi, Ina and Chavez, Mark. “Bringing Art to Everyday: Media Art Nexus Singapore 2016–2018.” In Expanded Animation: Mapping an Unlimited Landscape, edited by Jürgen Hagler, Michael Lankes, and Alexander Wilhelm, 126–135. Hatje Cantz, 2019. ISBN: 978-3-7757-4525-3.

This richly illustrated volume, Expanded Animation: Mapping an Unlimited Landscape, compiles key contributions from the Ars Electronica Animation Festival’s Expanded Animation symposium. Edited by Jürgen Hagler, Michael Lankes, and Alexander Wilhelm, the book highlights the latest trends and critical perspectives in the field of computer animation, featuring artist insights and theoretical essays from the past five years. It reflects on the evolving intersections of art, technology, and aesthetics within animation practice and theory.

The Media Art Nexus (MAN) at NTU

Singapore is more than an urban media platform—it is a conduit through which moving images travel, transform, and reemerge across borders and contexts.

Founded at Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU), the Media Art Nexus (MAN) is an experimental media arts initiative bridging academic research, immersive technologies, and public engagement. Conceived in 2016 and formally launched in 2018 as part of NTU Museum’s Campus Art Trail public art initiative, MAN operates at the intersection of education, curation, and technological exploration. It supports and presents works by emerging and established local and international artists—activating new modes of storytelling and urban interaction.

At its core, MAN is a living interface—a screen-based ecosystem that adapts and responds. Situated in Singapore, it provides artists a platform to engage with largescale public screens, while also serving as a springboard for cross-border dialogue through international collaborations.

A Network of Global Collaboration

Over the years, MAN has partnered with key institutions including Ars Electronica Centre and Festival, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Fraunhofer MEVIS, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Science

Visualization Lab at Die Angewandte, Urban Screens Production Australia, and the China Academy of Art (CAA), among many others. These exchanges have created a vital circuit of artistic and academic sharing across continents—from Singapore to Berlin, Hangzhou to Paris.

In 2024, MAN co-curated the City Digital Skin Art (CDSA) Festival—a media art competition transforming LED facades across 11 screens in 9 cities, including Milan, Paris, Hangzhou, and Beijing. This traveling festival presented immersive public artworks alongside academic panels in collaboration with CAFA, CAA, and the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

Echoes Across Platforms

Media Art Nexus is both a site and a concept—constantly reconfiguring itself through time, format, and geography. Most recently, works originally conceived for MAN’s large-scale LED façade in Singapore—such as Echoes, Whispers, and Memories—have been reimagined as immersive audio-visual performances and shown at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art (LACDA). The current exhibition The Serpent and the Dragonfly at Avenue 50 Studio continues this evolution, migrating seamlessly from public media architecture into intimate gallery cinema.

Like the “poor image” described by Hito Steyerl—compressed, reformatted, and circulating outside flagship spaces— these works resist fixity. They dissolve the boundaries between platform and content, gaining velocity, agency, and new audiences in the process.

This remediation—across resolution, speed, media, and geography—embodies what theorist Hito Steyerl calls “the poor image”: an image that travels not for its pristine resolution but for its affective resonance, remix potential, and power to circulate. At MAN, we recognize that images are not fixed—they are “compressed, reproduced, ripped, remixed, as well as copied and pasted into other channels of distribution.” Through our curatorial approach, we embrace this flexibility as a political, poetic, and communal gesture, one that mirrors the shifting cultural terrain of contemporary media art. Our platform continues to champion this ethos, expanding into new territories and modalities, with upcoming plans for a 6K upgrade in 2025 to support richer curatorial dialogues and transnational collaborations. With renewed connections to Los Angeles, and future editions of the CDSA Festival on the horizon, MAN invites artists and publics alike to join in shaping visual bonds that transcend origin, format, and expectation.

Ina Conradi & Mark Chavez

Hito Steyerl, In Defense of the Poor Image, e-flux journal no. 10, November 2009.

The Serpent and the Dragonfly integrate animated and generative AI-based artworks exploring urban narratives, ancestral memory, and speculative futures, reinterpreting cultural symbols across diverse temporal and geographical contexts. The exhibition brings contemporary art into everyday spaces, inviting audiences to reflect on transformation, resistance, and interconnectedness.

Artistic Approach and Conceptual Framework

The exhibition blends influences from Chicano art, Mexican painting, Late Classic Maya literature, Southeast Asian textile aesthetics, and quantum metaphysics, employing a distinctly decolonial and post-industrial pop approach. Each artwork fosters new visual dialogues, transforming monumental or intimate spaces into sites of poetic inquiry, spiritual reflection, and cultural engagement.

Featured Artworks: An Artistic Journey In The Serpent and the Dragonfly, we bring together a series of interconnected works that trace our evolving artistic dialogue across cultures, disciplines, and geographies. The exhibition opens with its titular piece, The Serpent and the Dragonfly (2025) (comprised of two prints with an accompanying video), symbolizing our exploration of tangible perception and abstract memory. Here, the Dragonfly represents the process of actionable change realised in the recognition of reality as a self-created illusion, while the Serpent embodies ancestral knowledge, spiritual reflection, and the fluid boundaries between consciousness and imagination.

Our journey continues with Guadalupe | Tonantzin | Coatlicue (2021), a contemporary altar presented through video installation and a card set, inspired by the layered traditions of Chicano art and Mexican iconography. This work engages cultural hybridity and spiritual continuity, reinterpreting ancestral figures through a distinctly decolonial lens. It underscores how acts of remembrance, resilience, and identity serve as powerful forms of collective resistance and transformation.

Moving deeper into existential reflection, Echoes, Whispers, and Memories (2024), expands our inquiry into quantum metaphysics and urban consciousness through an immersive theater installation. Initially debuted on monumental LED screens at the City Digital Skin Art (CDSA) Festival in Hangzhou and Beijing, this

artwork repositions entropy as a generative rather than destructive force. By poetically interweaving quantum metaphors—such as matter’s dispersion and acoustic decay—this installation meditates on human memory, mortality, and the profound interconnectedness inherent in all systems.

The exhibition culminates with Moirai: Thread of Life (2022), an award-winning video animation developed collaboratively with quantum physicists and realized through generative AI. Recognized as Best in Show at SIGGRAPH Asia’s Computer Animation Festival in 2023, the piece integrates advanced technology and philosophical inquiry, exploring the complexities of quantum theory, fate, choice, and existential interconnectedness.

Together, these works map a narrative of continuous artistic discovery, blending ancestral symbolism, technological innovation, and critical reflection. Each installation embodies our ongoing pursuit of new visual dialogues—where art becomes a fluid, dynamic conversation between past, present, and future selves.

Personal and Curatorial Background

This exhibition marks our significant return to Los Angeles after two decades in Asia. The featured artworks trace their origins to our extensive practice at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, where we cofounded Media Art Nexus (MAN), a pioneering platform merging digital media, public art, and interdisciplinary curation. Through international presentations—including Ars Electronica, ISEA, and SIGGRAPH Asia—our practice has continuously explored the transformative intersections between art, science, and digital technology.

Reflection on Medium and Memory

We adapt these works into immersive gallery spaces, cinema settings, and print-based presentations, and reflect on how media art travels, reshapes, and rematerializes across time and context. Each piece embodies resonant memories of ‘place,’ highlighting how art, identity, and meaning remain perpetually fluid—always in the process of becoming.

Ina Conradi & Mark Chavez The Serpent and the Dragonfly

An Uncanny Valley of Sound

In composing for Quantum Logos, Moirai, and Echoes, Whispers, and Memories, I explored sound design as a core compositional tool. I approached each project less as a traditional composer and more like a foley artist—sonifying actions, scenes, and images before layering in harmony and melody. This method was imaginative, playful, and deeply gratifying. My intention was to invite audiences to form their own interpretations of the visuals, rather than relying on the familiar emotional cues of conventional film scoring.

For Quantum Logos (Vision Serpent), in particular, I set out to design soundscapes for a quantum world—one that exists beyond the limits of human perception. Given that quantum mechanics describes a reality unobservable to the naked eye, I felt the sonic palette should also dissolve the line between the known and the unknown.

My goal was to create an “uncanny valley” of sound: environments that feel both familiar and alien, evoking recognition without certainty.

To achieve this, I followed two approaches. First, I used synthesis to replicate natural sounds. Second, I applied warping and manipulation techniques to real-world recordings, extracting timbres that sounded otherworldly. When a listener hears birdsong, they may wonder whether the birds are real. When they hear voices, they may question if such sounds could come from humans.

By rendering the familiar as strange, I aim to offer an auditory metaphor for scientific inquiry itself—revealing unseen structures and hidden patterns in ways we’re only beginning to understand.

Artworks

Ina Conradi & Mark Chavez

Tate Chavez

The Serpent and the Dragonfly

The Serpent and the Dragonfly is a digital artwork I created, inspired by prose from the Late Classic Maya script found in the Chilam Balam, specifically the “Ritual of the Bacabs,” as translated by David Bolles. The source text originates from around 900 CE—a period of profound transformation and introspection within Maya civilization.

I imagine a Maya scribe, seated by torchlight beneath vaulted ceilings inscribed with intricate glyphs, reflecting on the cycles of nature, human ambition, and the spiritual dimensions of life. Steeped in ancestral wisdom, this scribe records his thoughts in bark-paper codices, offering a timeless meditation on the fragility of existence. The prose becomes a bridge—both a personal testament and a philosophical dialogue with future generations—capturing the existential spirit of a civilization at the edge of great cultural shifts.

The original text reads:

“Can Ahau, they say, is the creator, Can Ahau, they say, is the darkness when you were born. Who is your creator? Who is your darkness?

You are created by Kin Chac Ahau, Colop U Uich Kin when you were born...

(...continued full excerpt as provided.)

I reference a version of the text featured in the Fall of Civilizations documentary series episode titled “The Mayans – Ruins Among the Trees.” This incantation, believed to be passed down by a Mayan shaman, evokes a surreal cosmology:

“Can-a-hao, they say, is the creator. Can-a-hao, they say, is the darkness. Coming from the fifth level of the sky, the head of the dragonfly... (...continued excerpt.)

To generate the visual elements of the work, I rephrased the text into a poetic AI prompt:

“I looked up at the sky as the wind whispered around me, my thoughts reaching into the vast unknown.

From the highest vault of the heavens, a monstrous dragonfly’s head gleams, reflecting shifting echoes of time... Now, release it— to the unraveling creator, to the chasm where light fades.”

Within this framework, The Serpent and the Dragonfly becomes a visual counterinscription—a visual act of resistance and a digital, decolonial intervention that dismantles the spectacle of colonial nostalgia and its romanticized retellings. Rather than reinforcing sanitized versions of the past, the piece actively disrupts them. Through the layering of multiple symbolic elements—Mesoamerican glyphs, glitch aesthetics, Indigenous cosmologies, and fractured urban symbolism—the work collapses temporal boundaries and blurs the lines between past, present, and future. The result is a haunting anti-colonial surrealism, reanimating erased histories through radical reassembly and immersive technology.

As the first digital media, AI, and immersive installation presented at Avenue 50 Studio on Fig, this work marks a bold expansion of the gallery’s curatorial vision— embracing new tools for storytelling while honoring ancient knowledge systems.

The Serpent and the Dragonfly Year: 2025

Materials: Generative AI animation, 3D animation, and audio composition

Dimensions: Variable

Duration: 00:07:30

Credits: Directed and Animated by Mark Chavez; Executive Producer, Ina Conradi Double bass by Tate Chavez, AI Generated Audio Textures

Description

Serpent and the Dragonfly is an

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The

animated meditation inspired by Late Classic Maya prose from the Chilam Balam, reflecting on transformation, memory, and cosmic cycles.

Guadalupe

Year: 2022–2025

Guadalupe–Coatlicue–Tonantzin

Year: 2024

Materials: Mixed media; generative AI animation, street intervention, print

Series: Stone, Flesh, and Light – 20 prints, including 20 AI-generated animated works

Dimensions: Variable

Duration: 00:10:00

Credits: Directed and Animated by Mark Chavez; Executive Producer Ina Conradi

Description

Our Lady of Guadalupe is a mixed-media body of work that reinterprets the iconic 16th-century image through generative AI animation and contemporary visual language. Spanning over 4,000 AI-generated frames, Guadalupe–Coatlicue–Tonantzin expands the theme as animated iconography that reframes the sacred feminine through fragmented imagery and spiritual transformation. A complementing series of wheat-pasted prints transforms urban surfaces into ephemeral sites of cultural resistance, memory, and dialogue. Together, the works explore pareidolia, cultural memory, and decolonial narratives— offering a layered reflection on identity, perception, and resilience.

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Guadalupe: AI and machine learning in art.

This piece embarks on a post-modern exploration, repurposing a 16th-century image created under the influence of the Jacobean priesthood. Initially, the original work was intended to manipulate fiscal flows from Spain to Mexico. This historical context is not merely referenced but is intricately woven into the fabric of the artwork through AI-driven reinterpretation.

The work appropriates the original Guadalupe as a foundational canvas. Various cultural narratives and symbols are mapped onto this canvas, creating a complex tapestry of historical and contemporary dialogues. The process uses “seeds” to generate images, from which a curated set evolves into a dynamic visual narrative spanning over 4,000 frames—culminating in an hour-long visual symphony. Chavez’s long standing experience with computer animation since 1980 enriches this process, blending traditional techniques with cutting-edge generative art.

The resulting artwork is a visual paradox, revealing and concealing its myriad facets. From one vantage point, the iconic silhouette of the Guadalupe image emerges. Subliminal elements intertwine, acting as symbols of Mexican cultural identity, alongside motifs of pop Latino surrealism. Yet, this piece transcends visual representation—it is an articulation crafted from words, a linguistic alchemy transforming text into visual spectacle. These textual elements echo the Florentine Codex, embodying a poignant commentary on cultural erasure and preservation.

This artwork transcends its aesthetic dimensions, embodying a symbolic “war banner” reflective of historical revolutions and contemporary discourses within Mexico. It is both a personal and collective manifesto—a pastiche of the ongoing cultural and political narratives shaping our existence.

Guadalupe explores pareidolia, where faces and forms emerge from abstract tapestry—revealing the subjective nature of perception and the elusive boundary between reality and illusion. The work is not only a visual experience but also a cognitive journey, challenging viewers to engage with its layers of meaning and interpretation. This project serves as a precursor to an envisioned short film that will further explore the possibilities of AI in art. Alongside partner Professor Ina Conradi at NTU Singapore, Chavez stands at the forefront of nurturing a new wave of AI artists in Southeast Asia, marking the advent of a transformative era in the art world.

Guadalupe–Coatlicue–Tonantzin

A Curatorial Perspective on Ephemeral Urban Interventions

Street Art Description & Analysis

S treet art operates at the intersection of spatial politics, temporality, and social engagement. Unlike sanctioned public art, it exists in a liminal space—positioned between the institutionalized and the insurgent. It reflects dynamics of power, resistance, and impermanence.

This approach has long been explored through algorithmic processes, aesthetic interventions, and decolonial frameworks— methods that reshape perceptions and interactions with public space.

The images below document a temporary street art intervention in the urban landscape. Ephemeral, paperbased wheat-paste posters disrupt the visual fabric of the city, initiating a vital conversation about resilience and erasure. These works engage with layered histories, including colonial imposition, and explore Indigenous identity and cultural syncretism.

Public Art Intervention

In recent interventions, artists employed temporary materials designed to decay rapidly—challenging the notion of permanence in the urban landscape. Installed on electrical boxes throughout Los Angeles, these ephemeral works questioned the commodification of street art. They existed only briefly, gradually erased by natural elements and human touch.

This methodology aligns with broader research in new media, where images dissolve through digital entropy or material disintegration. Here, dissolution becomes a narrative strategy.

These interventions are framed within decolonial aesthetics, showing how street art can serve as counter-memory to dominant visual cultures—reclaiming space from capitalist and colonial narratives. Generative AI-based elements transform identity and ancestral memory through digital processes, while streetlevel compositions function as transient gestures that momentarily disrupt the visual order.

Through this lens, street art becomes both a rebellious act and an ongoing negotiation of space, visibility, and authorship. By embracing its impermanence, the city acknowledges its own agency—

shaped continuously by natural elements, human intervention, and passersby.

Exploring Urban Narratives Through Wearable Art

This artistic practice extends beyond street installations into wearable art, showcased on the Giant Monster TeePublic store. The platform features designs that reinterpret cultural symbols and narratives, making art accessible in everyday contexts.

One notable design, Cataclismo: Fragmented Identity, portrays two intertwined faces amidst chaotic architectural forms. A dynamic black, white, and red palette evokes the collision of old and new worlds, reflecting cultural resistance and the blend of Indigenous spirituality with modernity.

Another piece, Desolación: The Golden Mask of Transcendence, presents a central figure adorned with a golden mask and serpentine motifs—embodying the interplay of creation and destruction. It celebrates a resilient and evolving cultural identity through fragmented beauty and ethereal aesthetics.

These wearable artworks act as extensions of the broader street art practice. They allow individuals to engage with decolonial narratives and cultural reclamation in daily life. By transforming complex themes into accessible designs, the work becomes both personal expression and a catalyst for dialogue around identity, heritage, and resistance.

Contextualization of the Work

This series of wheat-pasted posters reflects the recurring Guadalupe–Coatlicue–Tonantzin dynamic, reframing the sacred feminine within a contemporary aesthetic. Each piece engages with themes of identity fragmentation, iconography, and spiritual transformation—set against the raw textures of urban decay.

Placed in public spaces, the works subvert traditional exhibition modes, making them both accessible and vulnerable. This mirrors the precariousness of cultural survival.

This project recontextualizes sacred imagery within the urban environment, transforming street-level interventions

into sites of cultural dialogue. By engaging with suppressed histories through visual storytelling, the work affirms the resilience and ongoing reclamation of Indigenous identity.

The use of ephemeral materials emphasizes themes of decay and impermanence—mirroring historical erasure while underscoring the endurance of cultural

memory. Public space becomes a living archive, where everyday surfaces serve as canvases for remembrance and resistance. Rooted in a lineage of socially engaged art practices, this work disrupts dominant visual narratives. Existing in the public sphere, it prompts viewers to actively engage with layered histories—rather than passively observe.

Ina Conradi & Mark Chavez

Echoes, Whispers and Memories

AI generative animation, and urban media art

Echoes, Whispers, and Memories is a site-specific artwork that premiered on monumental LED screens in Singapore, Hangzhou, and Beijing. Drawing on the metaphor of fading echoes, enduring memory, and the gradual dissipation of matter, the work frames quantum entropy not as chaos or decline, but as a generative force of renewal and transformation. It explores entropy as an intangible yet persistent element of contemporary life— one that fuels creativity, remembrance, and continuity. In doing so, the artwork becomes a poetic reflection on the layered cultural, social, and environmental forces shaping urban environments, offering a meditative space where energy, memory, and matter dissolve and reassemble across time.

Inspired by ancient wisdom traditions and non-linear temporalities, the piece reimagines entropy as the quiet unfolding of energy into new forms—like sound waves fading into silence but lingering in memory. It reflects on the persistence of memory as a counterpoint to decay, touching on themes of mortality, cultural continuity, and the flux of urban life.

Through subtle, layered animation, the work invites moments of stillness in the flow of public space. It contributes to a decolonial approach to digital public art— celebrating entropy as a vital, poetic force of collective change and remembrance.

The project was supported by City Digital Skin Art (CDSA) 2024. This international event, dedicated to digital culture and media arts, transformed urban spaces into digital canvases. Initiated by the School of Sculpture and Public Art at the Chinese Academy of Art, Hangzhou, the festival was realized in collaboration with Public Art Lab Berlin, the Connecting Cities Network in Europe, and Media Art Nexus at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The event spanned 11 urban screens across 9 cities in 5 countries.

The exhibitions and screenings began in Milan, Paris, and Singapore, followed by additional showings in Hangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and other cities. Academic Sharing Sessions were held at the Shanghai Theatre Academy’s Changlin Campus, the

China Academy of Art (CAA) in Hangzhou, and the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing, among other venues.

Exhibitions & Premieres

• Hangzhou

Echoes premiered at the Hangzhou Federation of Trade Unions City Center West Lake Screen—the largest high-definition outdoor screen in Asia (170m x 18m, 3,060 m²). With daily foot traffic reaching 1 million and up to 1.5 million during holidays, it offered an unparalleled platform for large-scale digital artworks.

• Beijing

Whispers was presented at The Veil, Wukesong Commercial Complex, a key site for immersive media art in the capital.

• Singapore Echoes appeared on Media Art Nexus (NTU), a 15m-long screen embedded within the university’s campus hub.

Memories was exhibited at Ten Square, a 21m x 14.4m screen atop a car vending machine tower—seamlessly integrating digital art into Singapore’s urban flow.

Reinstallation & Live Performance LACDA 2025

On January 23, 2025, Echoes, Whispers, and Memories was reinstalled as an audio-visual live performance at Los Angeles Center for Digital Art (LACDA) as part of ‘The Bender Circuit + Sleep Dep Productions Audio-Visual Performance Series.’ Featuring interactive, audioreactive animations, the work responded in real time to live sound, expanding its engagement with entropy as a dynamic, generative process.

The project was executed on a high-performance Linux-based system, optimized for AI-driven animation workflows. It utilized a GPU-accelerated setup with NVIDIA graphics cards, ensuring efficient processing for Stable Diffusion, ComfyUI, Flux, and real-time audio-reactive visuals in TouchDesigner.

Echoes, Whispers and Memories

Year: 2024

Materials: AI-generated animation

Dimensions: Variable LED 21m x 14.4m @ TenSquare, Singapore LED 170m x 18m (3060 m²) @ West Lake Canopy, Gonglian City Center, Hangzhou LED 787 m²

Format: Audio-Visual Live Performance

Duration: Variable (00:03:00 –00:20:00)

Credits: Directed and Animated by Mark Chavez; Executive Producer Ina Conradi; Music by Tate Chavez

Description Echoes, Whispers and Memories is a series of site-specific animated works that reimagine entropy as a generative force, transforming monumental urban screens into contemplative spaces for decolonial reflection, cultural memory, and interconnected transformation.

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Conradi & Mark Chavez

Below Echoes, Whispers and Memories (2024), Still from AI-generated immersive animation Duration: 00:10:00

Above Echoes, Whispers and Memories (2024), Still from AI-generated immersive animation

Duration: 00:10:00

The Serpent and the Dragonfly

Article published on occasion of Experimenta Emergence, 9th National Tour of Media Arts, touring Australia 2025–2027. January 21, 2025.

“The very nature of materiality is in entanglement. Matter itself is always already open to or entangled with “Other.” The intra-actively emergent “parts” of phenomena are coconstituted. Not only subjects but also objects are permeated through and through with their entangled kin; the other is not just on one’s skin, but in one’s bones, in one’s belly, in one’s heart, in one’s nucleus, in one’s past and future.”

– Karen Barad

Conradi and Chavez’s practice is unpinned by observation, experience, and stories to attempt to explain the world. In this work, they contemplate: What if the quantum mechanism were to govern all things? Could these principles surface in daily life? Might they eventually explain the universe and reveal a unified truth to satisfy all inquiries?

This artwork draws inspiration from the paradoxes of modern physics, including entanglement, quantum superposition, spacetime, and wave-particle duality.

It explores how these concepts intersect with artistry, intangible heritage, and the aesthetics of ceremonial textiles from the Maritime Silk Road, specifically Indonesia (Sumatra). The artists use the ancient symbolism found in Southeast Asian textiles to represent the invisible, counterintuitive phenomena of quantum physics.

Rather than employing scientific methods, hypotheses, or mathematical models, the project illustrates how science and art can intersect and enrich one another. Southeast Asian fabrics serve as the foundation, with the processes and materiality of fabric becoming a visual language to explore quantum theories and their relevance to everyday life.

The principle of quantum superposition, where a system can exist in multiple states simultaneously, parallels the interplay of warp and weft in weaving. Quantum systems—atoms, photons, or spins—may exist in two distinct states at once, much like threads forming patterns in textiles. Wave-particle duality, where an electron behaves as both particle and wave

Moirai, Thread of Life

Year: 2023

Materials: Single-channel 3D animation film and audio composition

Dimensions: Variable

Duration: 00:05:38

Credits: Directed and Produced by Ina Conradi and Mark Chavez; Music by Tate Chavez; Animation by CraveFx

Description

Moirai, Thread of Life draws inspiration from the paradoxes of modern physics— contemplating what it would mean if quantum mechanisms governed all things—while visually reflecting the intricate patterns and vibrant textiles of Southeast Asia.

Credits Film Directors: Ina Conradi and Mark Chavez

Science Advisor: Professor Rainer Helmut Dumke – NTU’s College of Science, School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences, Division of Physics & Applied Physics and a member of the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) Singapore Animation: CraveFx Sound Composer and Producer: Tate Egon Chavez

Acknowledgements

With Prof. Rainer’s assistance, the team received valuable feedback on the accuracy of their original ideas and graphic storyboards, which proved invaluable to the project.

During this time, the team also studied textiles and various craft traditions of Southeast Asia (Maxwell & Gittinger, 2014). This research not only enriched the project’s visual development but also reconnected Conradi with her decadelong background in traditional textile training and weaving.

A key inspiration came from Ikat textiles of the Indonesian Archipelago, sparking the idea of using data photos to create artificial intelligencedeveloped artworks. AI was employed to previsualize several key concepts for the film. Although not used in the final production, it added intricacy and depth to the textures in the conceptual phase. This project is made with the support of the Ministry of Education Singapore, Academic Research Fund (MOE AcRF Tier 1 Award RG43/20) ‘Quantum Logos: Developing Alternative Artistic Styles to Communicate Science,’ 2020-2023. The work is winner: Best in Show SIGGRAPH Asia Computer Animation Festival (CAF), 12-15 December 2023 SIGGRAPH Asia 2023, the 16th ACM

SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Asia.

References

• Barad, Karen. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007.

• Bobroff, Julien. Quantum Made Simple. 2014. Accessed at http://www.quantummadesimple. com.

• Maxwell, Robyn. Textiles of Southeast Asia: Tradition, Trade, and Transformation. North Clarendon

• Conradi, I., & Chavez, M. (2023). Moirai, Thread of Life. Experimenta. Retrieved March 16, 2025, from https://experimenta.org/ artworks/moirai-thread-of-life

(Bobroff, 2014), is reflected in the dual nature of fabric: its front, back, and the patterns emerging from every warp and weft. Patterns arise from the interlacing of warp and weft, transforming formlessness into form. The horizontal and vertical threads resemble binary states, such as 0 and 1. This process evokes Schrödinger’s cat experiment, where superposition collapses into a definite state upon observation. Each warp or weft decision could represent a quantum choice, yielding a multitude of possibilities. The artists imagine these patterns existing in a multidimensional space.

In this “tesseract of fabrics,” each piece contains vital information about the world, from parallels and space-time to dimensions. Together, they visualise a possible unified truth, where the seen and unseen worlds converge. This idea aligns with the many-worlds interpretation (MWI), where all quantum outcomes manifest in parallel worlds or universes.

Moirai: Thread of Life symbolises origins, the span of life, connections between past and present, and human destiny. Inspired by Greek mythology, Moirai, the goddess of fate and destiny, weaves threads of life into observable states. In this interpretation, she entangles individuals with their multiple destinies, existing simultaneously in quantum superposition until these threads collapse into a singular reality.

Ina Conradi & Mark Chavez

The Serpent and the Dragonfly

Quantum Logos (Vision Serpent)

Excerpt from the Popol Vuh

Only the sea alone is pooled under all the sky, there is nothing whatever gathered together.

It is still at rest; not a single thing stirs. All alone, the Maker, Modeler, Resplendent Plumed Serpent... They are great sages, they are great thinkers in their very being.

— Popol Vuh, translated by Dennis Tedlock (2010)

This poetic vision of cosmic stillness and primordial creation—shared by the K’iche’ Maya people—mirrors the conceptual terrain of Quantum Logos, where myth, metaphor, and science intersect.

Excerpt from the Popol Vuh, the sacred creation text of the K’iche’ Maya people, as translated by Dennis Tedlock in consultation with contemporary Mayan daykeepers such as Andres Xiloj. The Popol Vuh is both a poetic cosmology and historical account, passed down orally and transcribed in the 16th century.

Post-Ars Electronica 2019 Reflection

Ijust completed the four-day presentation of Quantum Logos (Vision Serpent) at Ars Electronica’s Deep Space 8K theater. It was quite a ride—with my colleagues in arms Ina Conradi, Bianka Hofmann, and Bob Kastner. Full of the requisite stress that comes with big efforts. Although I produced and animated all of the visuals myself, I received a much-needed musical score from Tate Egon Chavez. Additional consultation came from Rupert Ursin, deputy director at the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

I’m an artist and animator—not trained in quantum theory or in cultural archetypes and metaphor—though these are fascinating subjects to study.

I began the project in earnest this past January, though my research started much earlier when I began reading books like Aztec Philosophy: Understanding a World in Motion by James Maffie, and Philosophy of the Ancient Maya: Lords of Time by Alexus McLeod. These books offer profound insights into the metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical wisdom of the Mexica and Maya civilizations. Drawing inspiration from these ideas—without expropriating direct cultural imagery—and studying other ancient cultures and their creation myths provided a rich foundation

for the project’s design language. I didn’t rely solely on these themes, however. I also studied the work of numerous quantum physicists across different fields. Only through the generosity of scientists who publish their talks online could I even begin to grasp, in some small way, the complexity of the subject. I attended talks at the UCLA ArtSci Center, led by artist Professor Victoria Vesna and scientist Dr. James Gimzewski, which included presentations by professors from the California NanoSystems Institute. I also had casual but enlightening discussions with academics in the field and reviewed lectures from the World Science Festival and other platforms on topics such as quantum physics, gravity, time, and biology.

To deepen my understanding of Indigenous American ideas, beyond the previously mentioned readings, I began to study Nahuatl—a Uto-Aztecan language spoken by a subset of Indigenous people in Mexico. This helped me appreciate the cultural depth and the emotive pathos expressed through metaphor in their poetry and prose.

The project consisted of a 10-minute real-time movie, followed by a 30-second pause and an introduction to the idea of becoming a source of energy in a quantum field. After this, the wall and floor

Quantum Logos – Vision Serpent

Year: 2019

Materials: 3D animation film and audio composition

Dimensions: Variable

Duration: 00:10:30

Credits: Directed and Animated by Mark Chavez (US); Executive Producer Ina Conradi (SG); Music by Tate Chavez (US); Sci-Art Producers: Bianka Hofmann (DE), Bob Kastner (AU)

Description

Going beyond the limitations of classical logic, Quantum Logos – Vision Serpent uses images as poetry to represent the quantum world—employing cultural icons as visual metaphors to explore, communicate, and discover the counterintuitive, contradictory beauty of quantum physics.

Awards

• Beyond the Curve International Film Festival, Paris (2021)

– Award of Excellence

• Los Angeles Motion Picture Festival (2020) – Winner, Best Animation

• Raw Science Film Festival, Los Angeles (2020) –Industry Award Winner, Best Visual Effects

• New York Animation Film Festival (2020)

– Semi-Finalist, Best Original Score

QR Code to Movie

transformed into an interactive interlude.

Designed to resemble the depths of a sacred Mayan cenote, the audience could step into the quantum world and ripple

References

Tedlock, D. (2010). 2000 years of Mayan literature University of California

book of the dawn of life Simon & Schuster.

Rothenberg, J. (n.d.). Toward a poetry and poetics of the Americas (11): from the Popol Vuh (Mayan) Jacket2. https://jacket2.org/ commentary/toward-poetry-and-poeticsamericas-11-popol-vuh-mayan

the fields around them. Everything was authored in Derivative’s TouchDesigner. This research is ongoing, and I’m excited about further developing the work.

Reference : Chavez, M. (2019, September 10). Post-Ars Electronica 2019 reflection LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/post-arselectronica-2019-reflection-mark-chavez/

Ina Conradi & Mark Chavez

Press. Tedlock, D. (1996). Popol Vuh: The Quiché Mayan

Ina Conradi & Mark Chavez

The Serpent and the Dragonfly

Quantum Logos - An Artistic Approach to Quantum Physics

Interview By Magdalena Sick-Leitner

You understand nothing when it comes to quantum physics?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone! The Quantum Travelers are using artistic means to get to the bottom of this difficult matter with their Deep Space project Quantum Logos at the Ars Electronica Festival.

The most common opinion is that quantum theory is incomprehensible and illogical. This should now come to an end!

The Quantum Travelers, consisting of the media artist duo Mark Chavez and Ina Conradi, the Sci-Art producer and developer Bianka Hofmann, and the science communicator Bob Kastner, have set themselves the task of making quantum research more tangible through artistic approaches. The art-scientific collective aims to describe demanding and decisive scientific concepts artistically with the help of cultural metaphors.

At Deep Space 8K, their first joint project Quantum Logos will premiere during the Ars Electronica Festival 2019. Quantum Logos is an immersive, reactive audiovisual experience that explores the fundamentals of quantum theory expressed in cultural archetypes. Using state-of-the-art real-time animation techniques, they try to gain new insights into basic natural phenomena and confirm questions that force scientific observations on the nature of existence.

We talked to the Quantum Travelers and experienced what awaits us at the Ars Electronica Festival.

Magdalena Sick-Leitner (MSK): Bob Kastner, you have joined forces with Mark Chavez, Ina Conradi, and Bianka Hofmann to form the ArtSci collective “Quantum Travelers.” What is your goal?

Bob Kastner: We explore new formats of art and science communication in a team approach. We have chosen quantum research for several reasons: it is not understandable and far from our human logic, and future quantum technology applications will change our societies sooner than we think. The artwork Quantum Logos is a first result, a programmatic signal of Quantum Travelers’ upcoming endeavours. We follow two essential narratives in par-

allel. One is on upcoming applications in quantum computing, simulation, cryptography, and the “Quantum Internet.” These revolutionary technologies will definitely shape our society.

The other narrative is on the scientific basis of quantum mechanics. We need to grasp its counterintuitive and paradox logic to fully develop all opportunities of quantum technology. The artistic approach is not limited to the communication of scientific results. We (scientists) work on the common ground of science and arts, which is: logical reasoning, intuition, and curiosity. Artists move intuition closer to intellectual knowledge using familiar expressive design to make tangible contemporary quantum ideas. Through this foundation, we aim to create new visual, verbal, and even sonic metaphors—a new “Quantum Alphabet” to grasp the quantum universe. We understand ourselves more as travellers to learn about different architectures—semiotic architectures—to support academia and businesses to develop opportunities for communicating quantum technology.

MSK: The first result, the artwork Quantum Logos by artists Mark Chavez and Ina Conradi, will celebrate its premiere at the Ars Electronica Center’s Deep Space 8K during the Ars Electronica Festival 2019. What is it about?

Mark Chavez (MC): Quantum Logos is our attempt to use cultural archetypes or metaphors to explain quantum physics. We use images as poetry to represent the quantum world. When we examined visualizations on the nature of existence made by early cultures, we found that many shared common design traits with graphically represented math in contemporary quantum physics. This excited us and encouraged us to pursue cultural archetypes as metaphors as a design path. We decided to leverage the design that was used in the past to describe the quantum world. For instance, the spiral nature of galaxies matches some graphic designs that are etched into rock revered by early man. If we explore quantum physics with cultural metaphor, we can both represent

the “spooky” nature of quantum physics and imbed the imagery with a similar inspiration that early man may have contemplated when considering their existence. I tried to utilize a current understanding of how various cultures have interpreted their nature and existence and design artwork that reflects a contemporary view of natural phenomena that recalls our collective mythic memory. I looked at the spiral nature of galaxies and ideas graphically described by early cultures that take a similar form. We began to realize we could explore quantum physics with cultural archetype and metaphor, inspired by the imagery used by early cultures to describe the quantum world. For instance, the sun was important to many early cultures and is depicted in various ways.

In quantum physics, the effect of the sun is described as a source of energy whose gravitational force warps fields of space around it, and that through the quantum effect evident in quantum biology sustains life as a tree absorbs photons to sustain and grow. We use a similar visual to describe this effect from a contemporary perspective. In our interactive interlude—as with the Double Slit Experiment—we further this approach by taking waveforms and expounding on the forms they create when they form crossing and interfering patterns.

MSK: And why does Quantum Logos premiere exactly here?

world, reinforcing both scientists and artists with the ability to construct new realities and also new communication forms to approach reality. I had the chance of producing several short films for science communications for the Deep Space. At its core, Deep Space 8K Theater is not only taking advantage of modern audiovisual technologies to effectively communicate complex discoveries of today, but strengthening new ways to make scientific ideas and concepts accessible for the audience—not only through the fantastic visual impressions, but also due to the fact that the audience can move, walk around, and relate with their bodies to the immersive visuals. The so-called info-trainer in the Deep Space also involves the audience, interacts with them, and answers their questions. That makes Deep Space a unique place to explore new ways to experience and communicate art and science.

MSK: The artwork is “reactive.” How does it react to the visitors in Deep Space? MC: We’re using the Deep Space’s Pharus tracking system. In our piece, the audience participates initially while the narrative portion plays back by being part of the floor projection. They walk into the Deep Space, and their presence is already part of the movie. After the primary narrative plays, we invite a select number of audience participants to play in the represented quantum field that is visualized in the Deep Space.

Chavez, Mark and Ina Conradi. “Reimagining Reality Through Decolonial and Quantum Lenses in Abstract Animation.” Animation Practice, Process & Production, vol. 12, Issue: Decolonizing Animation, June 2023, pp. 137–160. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/ap3_00047_1 This article will discuss how a decolonial multidisciplinary approach leverages Indigenous design elements to articulate and convey the intricate principles of quantum mechanics, exploring the rich intersection of quantum mechanics and abstract animated imagery. In doing so, conventional perceptions of reality are challenged and reimagined. We posit that the confluence of these diverse disciplines facilitates a novel and profound understanding of the universe, interpreting symbolically through an artistic lens secrets that suggest the metaphysical.

Ina Conradi: For 40 years, Ars Electronica has been providing a unique creative environment to bring future-inspired artwork on stage and allowing artists to explore the roads less traveled. This will be Mark’s and my fifth time exhibiting in Deep Space. Each time, the space opened an enormous new field of research and was of vital importance in the process of understanding better our art practice. Each time, we have been able to reconstruct our innermost artistic realities into new meanings by sharing and engaging with the audience. For the occasion of “Out of the Box – the Midlife Crisis of the Digital Revolution,” we feel that the Ars Electronica Deep Space is going beyond just an aesthetic and spatial consideration. In combining theatre, film, interactivity with science, we aim to stimulate a new kind of communicative potential for the premiere of our collective Art/Sci piece. Quantum Logos will hopefully impact the audience on a subconscious level to reflect on quantum effects.

BK: The Deep Space 8K indeed provides us consistently with an expanded view of the

MSK: The networking event Entanglement Ongoing also takes place on the Saturday of the festival. What can visitors look forward to?

BK: The networking event will take place right after the screening of Quantum Logos, in which the visitors experienced an immersive, interactive, visual, and sonic access to approach quantum effects. In the networking event, we will additionally provide brief statements from all views of expertise involved: I will start on the topic of why we explore new pathways in communicating quantum technology; followed by Mark Chavez, who will give us details on the artist’s vision of Quantum Logos; and Bob Kastner, who will provide insights on QT applications and their impacts on society. We are excited that Prof. Rupert Ursin from the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Vienna will contribute the physicist perspective. We will discuss with the visitors our approach of producing a new vocabulary in science communication with artists and scientists.

Ina Conradi & Mark Chavez

Mark Chavez and Ina Conradi

Ina, of Slavic heritage, and Mark of Amerindian descent, are based in Singapore and Los Angeles. Founding faculty at Nanyang Technological University Singapore’s School of Art, Design, and Media (2005-till present), they create short films and immersive art blending cultural archetypes with experimental interpretations of existence. Their work incorporates a decolonial, multidisciplinary approach, leveraging Indigenous design elements to explore the intersection of quantum mechanics and abstract animated imagery. By challenging conventional perceptions of reality, they articulate intricate quantum principles through a symbolic artistic lens, uncovering metaphysical insights.

Mark, an animation veteran with numerous award-winning Hollywood films, specialises in computer animation and visual effects, focusing on emergent techniques like synthetic sculpture and real-time storytelling Ina, a trained weaver and painter turned digital

media artist, approaches animation as a spatial, immersive experience— digitally choreographed like living canvases. Inspired by haute-lisse tapestry traditions, her work weaves tactile memory into visual storytelling, transforming screens into layered, temporal tapestries. Together, they integrate art and science concepts in their projects, examining AI-generated imagery for crypto art and NFTs. Their collaborations resonate with audiences through stylized, emotive designs, innovative storytelling, and profound interpretations of the universe.

Their collaboration “Quantum Logos (Vision Serpent),” created with science producers in Germany and Austria, premiered at the 40th Anniversary of the Ars Electronica Festival at Deep Space 8K and was later highlighted by CERN’s OriginPhysics and the Austrian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information. Another major work, “Moirai: Thread of Life” (2022), previsualized using AI, won Best in Show at SIGGRAPH Asia’s Computer Animation Festival (CAF) 2023, making them the first Singapore-based artists to receive the honor.

They have exhibited internationally at Ars Electronica (Austria), SIGGRAPH (Los Angeles, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Australia), ZKM (Germany), ISEA (Hong Kong, Korea, Colombia), and the Media Architecture Biennial (Beijing), among others. Their work has appeared in venues such as the UCLA Art | Sci Gallery, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and Guizhou Provincial Museum, and has been featured in over 15 curated academic panels and forums bridging science and the arts.

Tate Chavez

Tate Egon Chavez is a composer, curator, and arts programmer based in Los Angeles. He holds a B.A. in Music and Economics from UC Berkeley, where he studied composition at the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT). His soundscapes have been featured at Ars Electronica (2016, 2019, 2021), Singapore Inside Out: Tokyo, and numerous film festivals. All the while, his experience as a musician informs his role as a key organizer in Los Angeles’ experimental music ecosystem via dublab.

Journeying across memory, myth, and cultural narratives, The Serpent and the Dragonfly brings together artworks that interweave ancestral wisdom with contemporary imagination. Informed by Chicano art, Southeast Asian textile traditions, postcolonial thought, and quantum metaphysics, the exhibition reflects on transformation, resilience, and belonging. At its core, the Dragonfly symbolizes actionable change, realized through the recognition of reality as a self-created illusion, while the Serpent evokes ancestral knowledge and spiritual reflection. This show continues our legacy of contentdriven art by embracing the liminal—where Indigenous knowledge systems encounter fractured urban realities, and ancient symbology converges with hyper-modern circuitry.

Exhibition Information

Venue: Avenue 50 Studio 3714 N. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90065

Exhibition Dates: June 7 – July 5, 2025

Opening Reception: June 7, 2025, 3:00pm – 6:00pm

Acknowledgements

Curator: Kathy Gallegos

Curatorial Advisor: Avenue 50 Executive Board

Design: Currency

This project is supported by the Ministry of Education, Singapore, under the Academic Research Fund (MOE AcRF Tier 1 Award RG43/20), Quantum Logos: Developing Alternative Artistic Styles to Communicate Science, 2020–2023.

Additional support provided by the NTU Institute of Science and Technology for Humanity (NISTH) through the NISTH co:Labs grant initiative, under the project titled AI in Art Studio: Creating ImageBased Artworks Using Machine Learning and Scientific Data

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At its core, the Dragonfly symbolizes actionable change, realized through the recognition of reality as a self-created illusion, while the Serpent evokes ancestral knowledge and spiritual reflection.

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