Cristo Riffo
Constellations

We live in a moment of cultural deceleration despite accelerated technological advances. At a time when alternative futures seem so far-fetched and hard even to imagine, how can we rediscover our collective ability to visualize sociopolitical transformation? In the exhibition Constellations, Chilean artist Cristo Riffo explored the utopian potentials in natural and artificial technologies for social change, experimenting with playful juxtapositions of the microcosm and the macrocosm, the biological and the sociological, and the past and the future.

Upon entering the space, we came face to face with Sistema Cinco: Non-Human Determinations (2023), an immersive projection completely covering the surface of the two walls in the opposite corner. On one side was a biological microcosm of floating micro-organisms captured live through the lens of an AI-guided microscope. Their translucent bright-green colour against a black background evoked a cosmic constellation. On the other side was a macrocosm of drone videos of people floating in a pool alternating with seascapes. This oscillation between an extreme close-up and a distant view created a tension that challenged both our visual and our cognitive perspectives, priming us to rethink the world and its possibilities with renewed curiosity.