Arquea Colectivo (with Patricia Usero)
Arquea Colectivo is based at the intersections of sound creation, visual art, and biology. It is an assemblage composed of microorganisms inhabiting speculative territories, soundscapes connecting other space-time dimentions, the phonic apparatus of a modular synthesizer, the retina of a microscope camera, and two humans who interact with these agents on different levels: Marzia Matarese and Patricia Usero.
Exploring formats rooted in audiovisual performance and expanded cinema, Arquea Collective proposes a video-sonic exploration of territories and becomings suspended between the physical dimension of decomposing matter and speculative landscapes shaped in dialogue and tension with the sites where the piece was composed.
The performances of Arquea Colectivo have been presented at various national and international festivals and cultural venues, such as the International Video Art Festival of Casablanca (Morocco, 2024), CaixaForum Barcelona (Barcelona, 2023), the Ecoss Festival: Ecosistemes de l’Inesperat at Fabra i Coats (Barcelona, 2023), Lo Mon Contemporáneo (Hecho, 2023), La Caldera (Barcelona, 2023), and the L’Alternativa Festival at CCCB (Barcelona, 2022). Among their previous work are performances at Rarefacció Hangar (Barcelona, 2022), a collaboration with Kyoka during the Entropía Cycle at Etopia (Zaragoza, 2022), and performances at La Cinètika (Barcelona, 2022), Modular Day 8 (Barcelona, 2021), and the Eufònic Festival (Ebro Delta, 2021).
Patricia Usero is a sound artist immersed in the universe of modular synthesizers, DIWO instrument-building, and research on the use of natural elements in classical electronics. Her work focuses on deep listening and the dialogue between natural sound registers and modular synthesis systems, through which geophonies, biophonies, and anthrophonies are filtered. She creates soundscapes that emphasize the importance of sound in multispecies communication and survival, exploring the emotions evoked by our relationship with the environment.