Élégie's Enigma: A Tale of Lost Souls and Digital Echoes

Élégie is originally a one-woman show for aerial cello by Cellista, and currently on tour. It tells the story of Élégie, a shapeshifting blackbird who awakens one day to find that the citizens of Cloture, the city she lives alongside, have mysteriously vanished. The citizens have left behind a city full of altars, each adorned with unlit candles and filled with memories and mementos of the banished. Élégie shape-shifts into human form and accompanied by her magical companion, the cello, she enters the city to uncover the fate of Cloture’s disappeared. Through her journey, she discovers serenity amidst the mystery.
In its form for the ATLAS B2 residency, Cellista's stage poem will be presented as Élégie's Enigma, a collaboration between digital artist Monica Bolles and Cellista. The performance explores the intersection of fantasy and science fiction, weaving together themes of mystery, nature, and technological innovation. Élégie's Enigma interrogates identity, consciousness, and existence, prompting audiences to reflect on the ethical and philosophical implications of our growing relationship with emerging technologies and artificial intelligence.

Monica Bolles is a digital artist and audio designer known for her immersive audio and live productions. Combining artistic innovation with technical skill, she draws inspiration from AI, extended reality, and neuroscience to explore the future of human experience. Her interdisciplinary approach addresses ethics, identity, and consciousness, examining the profound implications of technologies that blur the boundaries between human and machine. Learn more on Monica's website.

Los Angeles-based Cellista is a composer and aerial cellist specializing in static trapeze. She creates narrative multimedia "stage poems" inspired by Jean Cocteau, blending disparate elements as acts of resistance art. Her politically concerned works break down borders between audiences and performers, disciplines, and genres, investigating the ruptures of daily life. Learn more on Cellista's website.

The development of this work was supported by a Creative Residency at the ATLAS B2 Center for Media, Arts & Performance.

Host or Publisher ATLAS Institute, University of Colorado Boulder