LUCILIA SERICATA VIDEO/AI/XR/INSTALLATION 2026
CLIENT: SESC 24 DE MAIO
POSITION: CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIST
TOOLS: ADOBE CREATIVE CLOUD, SORA, RUNWAY, KLING AI, OBS STUDIO, LENS STUDIO, BLENDER
Lucilia Sericata is a choreographic installation that uses bodily and videographic technologies to establish a game of superimpositions between body and image, tensioning fictional patterns constructed for a Black woman.
The choreographic installation articulates dance, performance, visual arts, and augmented reality (AR) with
the intention of fictionalizing, through recognizable and inaugural patterns, the body and ambience for a Black woman. It is a formal study of presence, performance, and virtuality.
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Performer interacts live with AR mask while dancing, SESC 24 de Maio, São Paulo, May, 2026.
As the project’s video and augmented reality designer, I developed its visual language and created a series of AI-generated videos and AR elements that layered virtual imagery with the performer’s body. The projections were designed not as a background, but as an active presence within the performance, creating an evolving dialogue between physical and digital bodies while supporting the work’s exploration of transformation, regeneration, and the fictional representations imposed on Black women.
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Video interaction view during performance at SESC 24 de Maio, São Paulo, May, 2026.
Selected screenshots and GIFs from the AI-generated videos are shown below. Full-length videos are available upon request.
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CLIENT: SESC 24 DE MAIO
POSITION: CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIST
TOOLS: ADOBE CREATIVE CLOUD, SORA, RUNWAY, KLING AI, OBS STUDIO, LENS STUDIO, BLENDER
Lucilia Sericata is a choreographic installation that uses bodily and videographic technologies to establish a game of superimpositions between body and image, tensioning fictional patterns constructed for a Black woman.
The choreographic installation articulates dance, performance, visual arts, and augmented reality (AR) with
the intention of fictionalizing, through recognizable and inaugural patterns, the body and ambience for a Black woman. It is a formal study of presence, performance, and virtuality.
Performer interacts live with AR mask while dancing, SESC 24 de Maio, São Paulo, May, 2026.
As the project’s video and augmented reality designer, I developed its visual language and created a series of AI-generated videos and AR elements that layered virtual imagery with the performer’s body. The projections were designed not as a background, but as an active presence within the performance, creating an evolving dialogue between physical and digital bodies while supporting the work’s exploration of transformation, regeneration, and the fictional representations imposed on Black women.
Video interaction view during performance at SESC 24 de Maio, São Paulo, May, 2026.
Selected screenshots and GIFs from the AI-generated videos are shown below. Full-length videos are available upon request.
A NOTE ON CREATIVE PROCESS - BEHIND THE IMAGE-GENERATION-PROCESS
The 3D digital clay heads we see dancing in Lucilia are the result of a complex algorithmic process. I asked Carmen and Dani to write short biographies of Black women—from the past and the future. The image-generation system I created begins with text. The short biographies they wrote function as the emotional “source code” for each image. Instead of describing physical features to the machine, the system is fed the character’s life story: where she came from, her dreams, her frustrations, and her legacy. This textual input is then combined with the root heads: a digital scan of Dani’s head, a photograph of her mother, Terezinha, and another of her aunt,Tânia.
As it processes these stories, the machine reveals a structural bias: it tends to reproduce the same facial pattern for Black women, regardless of how different the biographies are. The process, therefore, requires an intervening system that translates the stories into distinct imagined facial morphologies, along with restrictive commands designed to prevent repetition and force the algorithm to generate genuine diversity.
The aim is to honor the singularity of each story while also dancing with the AI system's machine-made visual repertoire. The result is a series of ancestor-futurist entities that share the many-mouthed pipe running through this work.
CREDITS
DANIELLI MENDES
conception, choreography, and performance
CARMEN LUZ
direction and dramaturgy
FERNANDO GREGÓRIO
video, projection, and augmented reality design
FELINTO
original soundtrack
GIL DOUGLAS
sound setup
LAURA SALERNO
lighting design
DANIELLI MENDES
conception, choreography, and performance
CARMEN LUZ
direction and dramaturgy
FERNANDO GREGÓRIO
video, projection, and augmented reality design
FELINTO
original soundtrack
GIL DOUGLAS
sound setup
LAURA SALERNO
lighting design
ANDREA GUZMAN JEREZ
costume and props design
FELIPE SAMORANO
tailoring
MATIAS IVAN ARCE
stage technician
MAYRA AZZI
photography and
full performance video
MARCUS BRAGA
graphic design
IOLANDA SINATRA
production
JULIA LACERDA
production assistant
LAYSLA LOYSE
lighting operation and setup
costume and props design
FELIPE SAMORANO
tailoring
MATIAS IVAN ARCE
stage technician
MAYRA AZZI
photography and
full performance video
MARCUS BRAGA
graphic design
IOLANDA SINATRA
production
JULIA LACERDA
production assistant
LAYSLA LOYSE
lighting operation and setup