Artist Statement

Emigrating from Bolivia to the United States when I was three, was one of the most profound experiences of my life. Not only was I moving from the third world to the first world, from a rural town to one of the largest cities, I was also leaving an extended family, where I felt confident and safe. Emigrating to New York, I felt alien, lonely and helpless—despondent because few people in this new land understood my Spanish words. I felt I had lost my voice. I will never forget my fifth birthday. I swore someday I would find the “words” to tell my story. Multimedia is a powerful technology to tell stories—incorporating animation, sound, text and of course interactivity. On the Sangre Boliviana CD-ROM, by clicking on the word “WEB” from the main screen, the program connects to an accompanying internet site.The site poses questions referring to the content in the CD-ROM. Participants are encouraged to share their own experiences regarding issues of emigration, safety and loss. Their responses will then be available for others to read on the site. I never intended Sangre Boliviana to be strictly autobiographical. Rather it is a collage, where I have portrayed the information from my point of view. Creating Sangre Boliviana was an organic process. I would get an idea for a piece. It might be a story or dream, or maybe a festival or ritual. I would gather the information and images and let the piece dictate the interactive format. http://www.cyber-chica.com/sangre-boliviana.html

• Lucia Grossberger-Morales (Bolivia/U.S.A.). In 1979, after a powerful dream, Lucia Grossberger-Morales sold most of her worldly possessions and bought an Apple II Computer. She then moved to a solitary desert and learned to communicate with the computer.Tired of all the software available, she and a couple of people wrote the Designer’s Toolkit, which was published by Apple Computer, Inc., in 1981. Lucia went on to develop several software tools, including Applevisions for Addison-Wesley. In 1987, Lucia decided that she wanted to dedicate all her time to creating art on the computer. Over the last ten years she has performed her art in conjunction with Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD, D’Cuckoo, and many others. Her installations have been shown at SIGGRAPH, SIGCHI, Lollapalooza, Pacific Film Archive, Mexican Museum, Mill Valley Film Festival, National Women’s Museum of Art, etc. Lucia was born in Bolivia and emigrated to the United States when she was three. Currently, she resides in California. She is on the Advisory Board of YLEM. http://www.cyber-chica.com/about.html