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CRISTO RIFFO (CHL)
Constellations
ELEKTRA GALLERY
MARCH 13 - APRIL 27, 2024 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Tuesday – Saturday: 12:00 – 5:00 pm
Opening 24.03.13, 5:00 – 09:00 pm
Performance 24.04.11, 6:00 pm with Cristo Riffo & Diego B.C
Free entrance
BIO
Cristo Riffo is a Chilean artist who explores the concepts of memory, light, politics and biology through the creation of kinetic installations and Live A/V performances, hacking and modifying technological devices through the usage of electronics, robotics and biology.
Cristo completed a Bachelor in Arts from the University of Playa Ancha (Chile). And he has participated in several group exhibitions in Chile and the rest of the world such as Bahia (BR), Buenos Aires (AR), Montreal (CAN) , Bogotá (COL) and Berlin (GER), Linz (AT).
He has received support from the Chilean National Fund for the Arts (FONDART) in the category of New Media, for the design, creation and display of solo exhibitions in 2014, 2016 and 2018. In 2023 he presented his work at the Theme Exhibition of Ars Electronica "Who owns the truth?" with his piece Sistema Cinco: Non Human Determinations.
Currently, Cristo Riffo is part of the MFA Intermedia program at Concordia University in Montreal.
The exhibition Constellations explores through two artworks the microcosmos and its interactions with the macrocosmos, as biological and social constructs. The first work, Sistema Cinco: Non-Human Determinations discusses the relationships of microorganisms superimposing nature’s molecular technologies with human-made ones, using a microscope, A.I. and drone imagery to reimagine cybernetic management. The other one, The Self Writing Manifesto, is a microscopic observation exercise to extend temporalities of mycelium and its architectures, stretching our perception of non-human growth in time and scale.
The artist's work conveys and explores the complexity and contradictions of history, politics and technology. Using robotics, electronics, chemistry and microbiology, he creates poetic translations of reality with what he calls "philosophical machines": machines that attempt to cope with the expansion of topics such as neo-fascism, disinformation wars and the exploitation of the other and of nature.
These machines have been conceptualized using light and shadow, the warmth of wood and the rigidity of metal, as well as found images and historical archive footage. They take the form of kinetic installations, bio-art pieces and audiovisual performances. In this way, each "philosophical machine", through its use of form and materiality, demonstrates an expanded perception of art and aims to amplify reality.
Exhibition produced as part of the Hexagram-ELEKTRA 2022-2024 call for projects.
Some of these works were developed at Concordia University, in the biolab of the Milieux Institute, for art, culture and technology.
Photo credit: Cristo Riffo