Frisly Soberanis 2019–2020 Artist in Residence

Frisly Soberanis is a director and video artist, from Queens, New York via Guatemala. His work explores separation, distance and the migrant experience. He has received support from E4FC’s Fuse fund, Tribeca Film Institute’s New Media Prototype Fund, Culturestrike and the Nelson Mandela Foundation. He is one of the Open Society’s Photo Documentary Fellows. The last project he worked on, the Family Reunions Project, was a 360 video/ virtual reality project that explored the layers of reality, memories and messages. It has shown at Hemi's 2016 Encuentro @ el Centro de Cultura Digital (CCDMX) in Mexico City, and during the Moving Walls 25 Exhibit. His other work has been shown at the Hilversum Museum and Tribeca Family Day. He grew up filming quinceañeras and bodas, and hopes to create stories of healing and reconnection. He loves thunderstorms and family, he is fascinated with light, sound and loves to play video games, especially ones with a great story.

tierranarrative.com | playfrisly.com

Research Questions / Lines of Inquiry during Hemi Residency

There is a need to create ethical protocols and practices when creating Virtual Reality and immersive experiences that deal with trauma.

What are protocols and methodologies we can implement when creating intimate immersive experiences for the purpose of digitally connecting people to places and people?
What are people doing now in the field? What have people done in the past? What did we do?
If 360 blurs the lines of reality, then what realities should be blurred? Should they be blurred in the first place?
What is a protocol to onboard someone to an immersive experience?
What are ways to de-escalate after a triggering immersive experience?

Watch Frisly's AiR Curated Conversation, "Cine Centroamericano: Narrativas de Migración y Desplazamiento" (2019)

Land Acknowledgement

The Hemispheric Institute at New York University acknowledges with respect the Lenape nation, whose traditional homelands NYU now occupies. We recognize the longstanding significance of these territories for Lenape nations past and present. We acknowledge that we work in a city with the largest urban Native population in the United States. Even as we work to increase the historical awareness of Indigenous exclusion and erasure, we acknowledge the effect of that legacy in educational institutions, at NYU, and across the hemisphere. We are committed to work revealing Indigenous history and life-worlds and to the inclusion of Indigenous voices and participation, in allyship with Indigenous makers and communities across the Americas.

About Us

The Hemispheric Institute gathers artists, scholars, writers, learners, and activists from across the Americas. We focus on social justice and research politically engaged culture and performance. We share this work in digital archives and amplify it through dialogues and public scholarship, residencies, publications, and gatherings. Our dynamic, multilingual network traverses disciplines and borders and is grounded in the fundamental belief that artistic practice and critical reflection can spark lasting cultural change.