Lita Albuquerque. Liquid Light (Film Still. Created by Nicole McDonald with cinematography by David McFarland). 2022.
A hybridized landscape where ancient myths and future fictions co-mingle and act upon the body to transform the realm of the possible is the subject of Liquid Light, the second film in a trilogy. The female astronaut of Albuquerque’s film transmits an otherworldly knowledge across the planes of the celestial and terrestrial. Hers is a subjectivity constituted in the space between the outer reaches of the imagination and the emotionally submerged land she discovers on Earth.
Mirroring the threshold state in which humanity finds itself today, Albuquerque’s heroine is likewise caught between light and darkness, unable to avoid a metamorphosis triggered by her initial failure to communicate the poetics of Cosmic harmony to Earth’s inhabitants. An amalgam of iconography, biography, and extreme landscapes that embody a deeply personal mythology, Albuquerque’s film is exhibited as a multi-screen installation, inviting the viewer into the heroine’s journey.
Filmed on location in Bolivia by David McFarland, with costumes by Jillian Oliver, and edited in Los Angeles by Nicole McDonald, the film features choreography and dance by Jasmine Albuquerque, and is exhibited in concert with installation components created locally in collaboration with Venetians, from glass blowers and artisans, to beekeepers and farmers. By sourcing materials locally in Venice and the region of Veneto, Albuquerque and bardoLA intend to be a part of the solution to the issue of a considerable carbon footprint created in the name of exhibiting art. This exhibition aims to support the local community of Venice in their efforts to preserve their ancient crafts while building a sustainable future.