[archives]
[2025_02_06]
document_SS25: about johans.
document_SS25: about johans.
bio
//b. 2003 in Moyobamba, Peru
//B.A. Media Arts and Practice, 2025
Johans is a transmedia artist and researcher whose practice explores the intersection of the digital, physical, and metaphysical through technology, while open-sourcing his documentation to foster communal innovation and dialogue. His work interrogates humanity’s evolving relationship with nature and technology, the fluidity of time, and the nature of self-exploration, inviting audiences to discover meaning and beauty in unexpected places.
With a transdisciplinary approach, he challenges the boundaries of digital and physical spaces, reimagining how they are experienced through sound, film, movement, and installation. His meticulous process translates abstract concepts across mediums, allowing research and experimentation to shape their final form. Often culminating in immersive, large-scale events, his work blurs the line between spectator and participant, emphasizing media’s role in facilitating collective experiences and self-reflection.
In addition to his digital sketching and design processes, Johans has embarked on several long-term projects, including films, installations, live performances, and writings such as [En Busca de la Nada] [SS25], [Manu] [SS24], and [Nuwarii: Encargo de Noche Ciega] [FW23]. His latest work, [En Busca de la Nada] [SS25], serves as his MA+P thesis project and showcases a multifaceted exploration of being, memory, gratitude, and nothingness. The project spans a collection of films, a book, four shirts, posters, a soundtrack, and an immersive exhibition and live performance, all interwoven to engage with these existential themes across different forms. With over a year and a half in development, this project marks a pivotal moment in Johans' evolving artistic practice.
Johans’ collaborative efforts include [Dear Mom] [SS24], created with Katie Luo, which was selected as one of the ten finalists out of three thousand submissions at Runway’s AI Film Festival. Written and produced in just forty-eight hours, the film broke new ground in AI-driven filmmaking, exploring both the aesthetics and emotional depth of AI-generated content. Through a poignant letter to their mothers imagining meeting them when they were twenty, the film contemplates the intersection of technology and human emotion, questioning the role of AI in expressing the ineffable.
His debut live performance, [Amazerdah] [SS23], reimagined the cycles of death and rebirth through a rich tapestry of Mesoamerican and Amazonian legends. This experimental DJ set combined ambient soundscapes with contemporary and classic Peruvian music, organic elements, and indigenous ícaros to create an evocative sonic experience. Accompanying the performance, 2D and 3D animations expanded on the themes of death and transformation, channeling dreams and visions to explore different cultural perspectives on mortality.
//B.A. Media Arts and Practice, 2025
Johans is a transmedia artist and researcher whose practice explores the intersection of the digital, physical, and metaphysical through technology, while open-sourcing his documentation to foster communal innovation and dialogue. His work interrogates humanity’s evolving relationship with nature and technology, the fluidity of time, and the nature of self-exploration, inviting audiences to discover meaning and beauty in unexpected places.
With a transdisciplinary approach, he challenges the boundaries of digital and physical spaces, reimagining how they are experienced through sound, film, movement, and installation. His meticulous process translates abstract concepts across mediums, allowing research and experimentation to shape their final form. Often culminating in immersive, large-scale events, his work blurs the line between spectator and participant, emphasizing media’s role in facilitating collective experiences and self-reflection.
In addition to his digital sketching and design processes, Johans has embarked on several long-term projects, including films, installations, live performances, and writings such as [En Busca de la Nada] [SS25], [Manu] [SS24], and [Nuwarii: Encargo de Noche Ciega] [FW23]. His latest work, [En Busca de la Nada] [SS25], serves as his MA+P thesis project and showcases a multifaceted exploration of being, memory, gratitude, and nothingness. The project spans a collection of films, a book, four shirts, posters, a soundtrack, and an immersive exhibition and live performance, all interwoven to engage with these existential themes across different forms. With over a year and a half in development, this project marks a pivotal moment in Johans' evolving artistic practice.
Johans’ collaborative efforts include [Dear Mom] [SS24], created with Katie Luo, which was selected as one of the ten finalists out of three thousand submissions at Runway’s AI Film Festival. Written and produced in just forty-eight hours, the film broke new ground in AI-driven filmmaking, exploring both the aesthetics and emotional depth of AI-generated content. Through a poignant letter to their mothers imagining meeting them when they were twenty, the film contemplates the intersection of technology and human emotion, questioning the role of AI in expressing the ineffable.
His debut live performance, [Amazerdah] [SS23], reimagined the cycles of death and rebirth through a rich tapestry of Mesoamerican and Amazonian legends. This experimental DJ set combined ambient soundscapes with contemporary and classic Peruvian music, organic elements, and indigenous ícaros to create an evocative sonic experience. Accompanying the performance, 2D and 3D animations expanded on the themes of death and transformation, channeling dreams and visions to explore different cultural perspectives on mortality.
[contact, links]
[johans (dot) sumari (at) icloud (dot) com]
[+1 210 596 7744]
[instagram]
[linkedIn]
[youtube]
[vimeo]
[+1 210 596 7744]
[instagram]
[linkedIn]
[youtube]
[vimeo]
[selected
live events]
live events]
Manu
[manu]
[SS24] | Oracle Egg______Los Angeles, CA
BLUE SUCCESSION: a multimedia fashion show by fr_m_d
[nuwarii: encargo de noche ciega]
[FW23] | Beta Males Backyard______Los Angeles, CA
MTEC451: Performance Technology Showcase
[Amazerdah]
[SS23] | USC Carson Center______Los Angeles, CA
[manu]
[SS24] | Oracle Egg______Los Angeles, CA
BLUE SUCCESSION: a multimedia fashion show by fr_m_d
[nuwarii: encargo de noche ciega]
[FW23] | Beta Males Backyard______Los Angeles, CA
MTEC451: Performance Technology Showcase
[Amazerdah]
[SS23] | USC Carson Center______Los Angeles, CA
[selected
film production]
film production]
manu
[SS24]
47:04
Director, Producer, Writer, Photographer, Editor
Dear Mom
[SS24]
03:04
Co-Creator
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County:
Sacrifice Zones Exhibition | Cotton Candy Skies
[SS24]
07:09
Co-producer, Sound Designer
Voz Latina Documentary Series
[SS24]
//://
Sound Designer
nuwarii: encargo de noche ciega
[SS24]
04:35
Director, Producer, Writer, Photographer, Editor, Sound Designer
en busca de la nada
[SS24]
07:25 | 05:56 | 07:43 | 07:38
Director, Producer, Writer, Photographer, Editor, Sound Designer
Hello Dear Friends
[SS23]
11:01
Producer, Photographer, Sound Designer
So Long, Sweet Child
[SS23]
01:16
Photographer
xenomorph_kunt.mp4
[FW22]
03:49
Co-creator
SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK (a remake)
[FW22]
01:51
Producer, Photographer
[SS24]
47:04
Director, Producer, Writer, Photographer, Editor
Dear Mom
[SS24]
03:04
Co-Creator
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County:
Sacrifice Zones Exhibition | Cotton Candy Skies
[SS24]
07:09
Co-producer, Sound Designer
Voz Latina Documentary Series
[SS24]
//://
Sound Designer
nuwarii: encargo de noche ciega
[SS24]
04:35
Director, Producer, Writer, Photographer, Editor, Sound Designer
en busca de la nada
[SS24]
07:25 | 05:56 | 07:43 | 07:38
Director, Producer, Writer, Photographer, Editor, Sound Designer
Hello Dear Friends
[SS23]
11:01
Producer, Photographer, Sound Designer
So Long, Sweet Child
[SS23]
01:16
Photographer
xenomorph_kunt.mp4
[FW22]
03:49
Co-creator
SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK (a remake)
[FW22]
01:51
Producer, Photographer
[selected
writing]
writing]
reflections upon darkness || johans. [sumari], in preparation. A collection of media logs and research papers documenting the process behind making en busca de la nada.
en busca de la nada || johans. [sumari], 2024. A collection of letters and scavenged quotes composed using a cut-up technique that bring the piece to a realm of abstracted time structures.
A Swan’s Testimony For An Untrustable Truth || johans. [sumari], 20xx. An evolving manifesto and journal I started in 2022 and make a few new chapters a year to mark my changes over the years.
en busca de la nada || johans. [sumari], 2024. A collection of letters and scavenged quotes composed using a cut-up technique that bring the piece to a realm of abstracted time structures.
A Swan’s Testimony For An Untrustable Truth || johans. [sumari], 20xx. An evolving manifesto and journal I started in 2022 and make a few new chapters a year to mark my changes over the years.
[selected
awards]
awards]
USC CTXA Time Capsule 2050 Grantee
[2024]
Runway AI Film Festival, Merit Winner, Top 10 Finalist
[2024]
[2024]
Runway AI Film Festival, Merit Winner, Top 10 Finalist
[2024]
[education]
University of Southern California |
School of Cinematic Arts
B.A. Media Arts + Practice | 2025
B.A. Media Arts + Practice | 2025