Óldo Erréve: I consider these three pillars—art, technology, and the body—as elements within nature that remain in a horizontal alignment, meaning they are fundamentally interconnected and essential for coexistence. In my work, I explore the re-imagining of the organic and its interplay with the synthetic, as well as the product of both: the new body, or the transhuman.

Since my childhood, I have viewed nature as an enigmatic entity, yet I have also questioned its existence, alongside my own as a conduit of energy balanced between the physical and the digital. My practice has afforded me the opportunity to question and express these concepts artistically. I am driven by a desire to understand what connects us as humans—from the natural to the virtual, the tangible to the imperceptible, the organic to the technological.

My collaborative work with MUXX has expanded my sensibilities, revealing the potential of interdisciplinary collaboration. Since beginning my career in 2014 with static images, my intention has always been to move fluidly between formats—ranging from audiovisual design to 3D modelling, virtual reality, artificial intelligence programming and coding, live performance, and installation. I see my creative evolution as a body that has successfully materialised from the digital to the physical.

At present, I am working on both individual and collaborative projects focused on themes that direct my career toward the exploration of the primal as a temporal bridge, and its relationship to futurism. These projects manifest an analogy of the dualities I frequently explore: the union of the synthetic and the organic, the dialogue between machine and human, the ancestral being and its roots versus the digital avatar and “the cloud,” biological intelligence versus artificial intelligence.

Dissociation is a powerful term to describe what is happening with our bodies at this moment in time. In these projects, I explore a wide range of themes, from body identity—looking at the physical possibilities of diverse bodies—to genetic deformation, which, for example, is often implanted in us through chemical medicine. We are not far from science fiction. I spend a great deal of time reflecting on the scientific information we have yet to access. Just as our bodies are controlled daily by processed products, our perception of them is distorted through the aspirational catalogues we are subjected to on social media and in advertising.

It is always possible to transform thought and knowledge through any form of artistic expression. However, with new technological tools, it is now possible to interpret utopias in a hyper-realistic way and present them to the world in the blink of an eye.

Traditions such as the muxes of Oaxaca have contributed significantly to my thinking about culture and queer identities. Working closely with the anthropologist and performance artist Lukas Avendaño has profoundly transformed my understanding of gender, as this is a topic that transcends barriers, breaks space-time boundaries, and demonstrates to the world that, in both nature and ancestral traditions, there have always been beings with two souls or two sexes—beings who are an essential part of the universe on both a spiritual and natural level, and who remain in resistance to preserve their existence.

With Trashumancia, our aim is to help people, especially those who typically visit museums on a family Sunday, understand the perspective of gender through the ancestral lens and how it translates into the futuristic. We strive to create a dialogue between these two realms, showing that there is a bridge of connection within us—respecting where we come from and where we are going, as a race, as an organ, as transmuting matter that is part of the universe—beyond the norms imposed by colonialism, syncretism, and patriarchy.

Lukas (Lukas Avendaño) shared with me the story of the “cloud people” — the people who come from the clouds, or in Zapotec, Binni Záa. I take this reference to establish a connection between the ancestral and the futuristic. I view this relationship as a timeless bridge, in which two elements are interconnected over time: the roots of our ancestors and the “cloud” — referring to the digital storage space — of the virtual avatars we have become over time. This can be understood as a reconfiguration of the spirit. We are not only connected through time and space but also through the various technologies that have helped us, as a species, to survive, imagine, think, and build.

When imagining digital affection, I found it quite detached — almost “blue.” It’s like envisioning a reality in which thoughts and feelings are stored in a database, ready to be retrieved whenever you need to feel loved. Although evolution seems to have synthesised elements for our “benefit,” I don’t believe a digital mechanism could ever exist that, as organic beings, would allow us to experience a genuine sense of trust rooted in desire.

Presenting this type of multimedia work, where the audience can interact and, to some extent, become part of the piece, is one of the qualities that defines our collective practice within MUXX. From my perspective, a work that can be experienced through the physical body and that resonates in the digital realm offers more than any material piece hanging on a white wall. Such a piece may contribute to thought, but what does it offer to the body itself?

I have always been inspired by the imagination of both the impossibilities and possibilities of existence. My work has been deeply influenced by science fiction, particularly Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy, which presents nature as both an ancient and futuristic technology. The trilogy explores the intersections of gender, race, and sexuality, as well as the potential for using natural resources as technological means for supraracial survival. Other significant influences include Carlos Jurado’s Camera Obscura, Georges Bataille’s The Story of the Eye, Joan Fontcuberta’s Secret Fauna, and various essays by Roland Barthes.