Without Goodbyes, 2024
Materials:
2 channel video installation, 18mins
Director:
GeoVanna Gonzalez
Cinematographer:
Juan Luis Matos
Producer:
Sotiris Tsiganos
Performers:
Angel Blanco
Rafael V. Cañals Pérez
Music:
GGST
Sound Engineer:
Ian Mercel
Shows:
Solo Exhibtion,Hallwalls, Buffalo, New York, 2024
Commissioned by:
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center and made possible, in part, with support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, Amy and Julio Alvarez-Perez, Dome Art Advisory, M&T Bank, and Erin County State of New York.
Materials:
2 channel video installation, 18mins
Director:
GeoVanna Gonzalez
Cinematographer:
Juan Luis Matos
Producer:
Sotiris Tsiganos
Performers:
Angel Blanco
Rafael V. Cañals Pérez
Music:
GGST
Sound Engineer:
Ian Mercel
Shows:
Solo Exhibtion,Hallwalls, Buffalo, New York, 2024
Commissioned by:
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center and made possible, in part, with support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, Amy and Julio Alvarez-Perez, Dome Art Advisory, M&T Bank, and Erin County State of New York.
"Without Goodbyes" unfolds as a contemplative exploration on the dialectics between impermanence and permanence through loss, grief, and memory. GeoVanna Gonzalez’s latest cinematic endeavor delves into the lives of two queer protagonists, positioning their narrative within theoretical frameworks that resonate within both cultural and existential inquiries. "Without Goodbyes" intimately centers itself in and around Camuy, the artist's familial origin on the northwestern coast of Puerto Rico. Inspired by Gonzalez's great aunt who is grappling with dementia and is the last surviving sibling of a generation, the film becomes a deeply personal exploration of loss, grief, and memory within the context of family history.
Drawing inspiration from nontraditional memorial services, the film examines contemporary embalming practices in Puerto Rico, where the intersection of life, death, and the preservation of the physical body explores how cultures approach rituals around death, mourning, and the ontological implications of memorializing departed souls. Incorporating techniques of contact improvisation into its narrative, the film deconstructs the embodied experience through dance, using movement as a symbolic language to express the ephemeral nature of connections and the nuanced interplay between presence and absence in human relationships.
As the narrative unfolds, it navigates the esoteric dimensions of espiritismo, intertwining the characters' spiritual quests with the Afro-Caribbean cosmology of Yemayá. This convergence provides a lens through which to examine the intersections of queer identity, spirituality, and cultural resilience within the socio-geographic context of Puerto Rico.
The unfolding love story between the protagonists serves as a discourse on queer temporality, becoming a locus for exploring the intersectionality of queer love amidst cultural traditions.
During the development of the film, GeoVanna Gonzalez turns to Francisco Oller's painting "El Velorio"; it becomes a semiotic mirror reflecting the narrative's culmination. Here, the characters confront the dialectical tension between the personal and the collective, the transient and the eternal. The connection lies in the visual representation of death and mourning in Puerto Rican culture. Oller's masterpiece could serve as a cultural artifact reflecting the intersection of life, death, and societal practices in Borikén.
Drawing inspiration from nontraditional memorial services, the film examines contemporary embalming practices in Puerto Rico, where the intersection of life, death, and the preservation of the physical body explores how cultures approach rituals around death, mourning, and the ontological implications of memorializing departed souls. Incorporating techniques of contact improvisation into its narrative, the film deconstructs the embodied experience through dance, using movement as a symbolic language to express the ephemeral nature of connections and the nuanced interplay between presence and absence in human relationships.
As the narrative unfolds, it navigates the esoteric dimensions of espiritismo, intertwining the characters' spiritual quests with the Afro-Caribbean cosmology of Yemayá. This convergence provides a lens through which to examine the intersections of queer identity, spirituality, and cultural resilience within the socio-geographic context of Puerto Rico.
The unfolding love story between the protagonists serves as a discourse on queer temporality, becoming a locus for exploring the intersectionality of queer love amidst cultural traditions.
During the development of the film, GeoVanna Gonzalez turns to Francisco Oller's painting "El Velorio"; it becomes a semiotic mirror reflecting the narrative's culmination. Here, the characters confront the dialectical tension between the personal and the collective, the transient and the eternal. The connection lies in the visual representation of death and mourning in Puerto Rican culture. Oller's masterpiece could serve as a cultural artifact reflecting the intersection of life, death, and societal practices in Borikén.