“ARCANUM” Cyber Gallery
Brian Gonzalez: Invisible Violence
Invisible Violence
Brian Gonzalez, constructed by gabbah baya and Natalie Valcourt. Digital installation, 2020. Sun, desert landscape, vultures, skulls.
This world, a cyber totem honoring the symbiosis between life and death, is a vast and supernatural desert inspired by Brian Gonzalez's upcoming feature film, Those Who Didn't Run, his reimagining of Mexico/Texas border histories in the 1940s. If you greet them, the death-watcher twins will hark to you an omen. They usher you to witness the work-in-progress archives for a new short film by Gonzalez (Pisces), Invisible Violence, a requiem for the Mexican farmworkers who were burned and/or wounded from routine gasoline baths enforced by border patrol agents a century ago.
Invisible Violence premiered on November 21, 2020 as an outdoor projection and live-stream at the Norwood Club in Chelsea, accompanied by an original acapella performance by composer Renzo Vitale, and performed live by members of the BARE Opera. A conversation with Gonzalez’s Queer|Art Mentor Rodrigo Bellott preceded the screening and an audience Q&A followed; a recording of the event is available here, courtesy of our collaborators at Midheaven Network.
The artworks in this gallery can be viewed within a playable video game, an immerse dreamscape constructed by gabbah baya and Natalie Valcourt, with an audio score by HiFadility.
Please note that this game is not compatible with Safari, or mobile phones. It is best played on a desktop (Mac or PC) using Chrome or Firefox.
Invisible Violence
Brian Gonzalez (b. 1987), Digital image of clay masks, 2020, Dimensions variable
Above: Invisible Violence, excerpt of upcoming feature film, Those Who Didn’t Run, 2020; Invisible Violence, Digital image of clay masks, Dimensions variable, 2020
ABOUT BRIAN GONZALEZ
Image by Lola Flash for the 2019 Queer|Art Community Portrait Project
Brian Gonzalez is a filmmaker, interdisciplinary artist, and educator working in a variety of mediums including video art, immersive installation, virtual reality, and performance, all under the artistic pseudonym Taxiplasm. Gonzalez graduated from the School of Visual Arts as the winner of Outstanding Cinematography of his class and shown video work at Times Square, Art Basel Miami Beach, NADA Art Fair, Lincoln Center’s Dance On Camera, and more, along with residencies at The Robert Wilson Watermill Center, The Standard, and the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Gonzalez has also created content with Untitled Magazine, Atlantic Records, Chimera Music and recently shot and directed a feature documentary produced by Sean Ono Lennon, while working to develop multi-sensory interactive experiences that bring us closer to personal catharsis.