REVERBERAR, 2020
Puente, Quito, Ecuador

ЯΣVΣЯBΣЯΛЯ is an immersive installation that weaves visual patterns from pandemic iconography—COVID-19 particles, surgical mask textures, celestial imagery, mass graves, and bodies abandoned in Guayaquil’s streets. These elements form concentric geometries that echo collective trauma and the rhythm of repetition to attain some comprehension of the world during the pandemic. The recognition of patterns enables a sense of secure or effective perception and has been an important factor in the survival of our species.

The image (a collage/design) is printed on acrylic and placed between a regular mirror and a two-way mirror. This creates an infinite mirror effect, allowing the image to reflect ad infinitum. Suspended from the ceiling, the object/image requires the viewer to lift their gaze in order to see it. On the floor beneath it, the social distancing circles once used by the Municipality of Quito on the city’s streets will be marked, tracing the path toward the piece.

The work explores perception, through pattern repetition, as both a survival mechanism and a site of rupture. An Instagram filter—usable only for self-portraits—extends the piece into the digital realm, veiling the face in collage. Reverberar asks what it means to inhabit crisis, and whether we ever cease to echo through it. Drawing from Hawkins and Blakeslee’s idea of pattern as the “fundamental currency of intelligence”.