Teonanácatl complete
Teonanacatl by Dom Cooper & Installation by Eric Moderbacher ((February 6,) 2025)
Performed by San Diego New Verbal Workshop
Teonanacatl was an Aztec mushroom ritual in which the mushroom was considered the flesh of the gods. A communal experience centered on visions, it revealed organic growth in colors and shapes. Our piece explores that growth through an installation of computer-controlled lasers, with code based on Conway’s Game of Life. The drawn paths remain as afterimages, while voices accompany and interact with the visuals, influencing and evolving them.
My part is a C++ program that steers an ILDA laser. This is a WebGPU emulation of a laser beam hitting a glow-in-the-dark screen like the one I made for the installation. It is running the C++ from the show, compiled to WebAssembly instead of talking to the USB DAC.
WORKING TITLE is Project [BLANK]’s fourth-annual exhibition of experimental art and music, featuring dozens of visual artists, filmmakers, sound and performance artists, composers, and musicians. This three-day, community-based event will include new works, world premieres, and thought-provoking performances featuring some of the most exciting creative voices in Southern California, Tijuana, and Baja California curated by Diana Benavidez and Leslie Ann Leytham. Join us on a pilgrimage of ideas, with bold new works that offer invocations and intercessions of sacred and profane inspiration.