Three by Three: Guest Artists in Focus

QUESTION 2.    You draw from transcendentalism and realism at once. How do you navigate the tension between metaphysical wonder and the grounded, observed world when shaping a poem’s voice?

• ANSWER 2.    I have a process that leads to meditation; I am in a place where I am speak for students, young people, and adults who enjoy poetry.

Carlos Acevedo Lugo
Writer

MEDIUM:    video installation, visual poetry

BIO:   Carlos Acevedo Lugo was born in Mexico City in 1991. He studied scientific writing at Stanford University. As a writer, he follows the movements of transcendentalism and realism in literature. He is about to publish his first book, On the Transmigration of Souls, a collection of poems in English that narrates journeys through the author's memory and his experiences with the idea of the soul. In the fall of 2018, he published his micro-story, A Story About Sonia, in the series by the independent publisher Autor de Barcelona. In 2025, he participated with a poem in the International Art Biennial of Spain. Next year, he will exhibit his video installation Pandemia 2019 (visual poetry) at the Venice International Art Fair 2025 – 23rd edition 2026, London Contemporary Art Fair 2026 – 16th edition, and Barcelona Contemporary – 8th edition 2026.

INSTAGRAM:    @CarlosAcevedoLugo

QUESTION 3.    As a bilingual poet, how do you approach the moments where Spanish expresses emotion differently than English — do those differences ever change the direction or emotional weight of a piece?

• ANSWER 3.   I became a writer as part of a family with very diverse ways of thinking. My first and second mother tongues are very important when it comes to creating my poetry, there is always a mixture of languages, and I use Spanish to create sensations and atmospheres through repetition, which helps me to change the

  emotional direction and influence of my work. It is a freedom I have had since I was a child, which is why my artistic practice and creative process are especially relevant in the interpretation of my art and poetry.

QUESTION 1.    Your video-poem Pandemia 2019 transforms global anxiety into a visual language. How do you decide which moments remain purely textual and which become images — is it intuition, storyboard planning, or something in between?

• ANSWER 1.    I worked with a group of photographers, and we got together to create a databank during the 2019 pandemic. We wanted our work to be exhibited around the world. So I came up with the idea of inviting them to participate in a moving image project. It wasn't cinema, but rather an artistic experience, a video installation called Pandemic 2019 (visual poetry), which will be exhibited in 2026 in Venice, Barcelona, Rome, and Milan.

From my book, On the Transmigration of Souls

From my book, On the Transmigration of Souls

Pandemic 2019 (visual poetry) is a video installation created with the participation of a group of photographers from around the world who captured various moments surrounding the 2019 pandemic.

All copyright and reproduction rights are reserved by Carlos Acevedo Lugo.
Artwork may not be reproduced in any form without the artist's express written permission.

VIDEO

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