Interlaced by LoVid

'Interlaced' is the newest work from the 'Hugs on Tape' series, which first debuted on Instagram in the winter of 2021 at the height of COVID shutdowns. Inspired by the artists’ sincere urge to reconnect with loved ones from around the world, they began creating an image of the mediated body that represents closeness, emotional presence, and touch. Each “hug” begins by receiving a video from fellow artists-friends that is then masked and animated frame by frame, granting each body a unique electronic-signal pattern. All colors and patterns are made with analog systems. Still images are extracted as the groundwork of each digital tapestry. Decorative arts and fabric works have a long history of storytelling, celebrating nature and folklore. 'Interlaced' draws visual connections between the natural world and the abstract forms native to electronic images by using repetition, mirroring effects, and tiling to create a rich, flattened landscape. The digital animations and tapestries complete each other—together creating a world of texture, rhythm, fantasy, and intimacy that bridges virtual and physical presence.

Per LoVid’s intent, the digital video of 'Interlaced' can not be sold separately from the Dye Sublimation print on canvas with hand stitching, as they are two halves of a singular whole. Sellers and purchasers will be required to share contact information, so that the tangible work can be properly transported to the new collector. Otherwise, this compromises the integrity of the work and, in the event of their separation LoVid may no longer recognize this iteration as their own and it will not be included in future, approved inventory or catalogue raisonnes. In an inversion of platonic idealism, the concept of "Digital Combines," pioneered by Claudia Hart, creates a commentary that interweaves the problematics of representation through virtual simulation versus the history of representation through physical embodiment. LoVid's 'Interlaced' first publicly appeared in Hart's 'Digital Combines' exhibition at bitforms San Francisco.