Aunties In Dis Place

Niceaunties

Developed during an artist residency at Campo Garzón in Uruguay, Aunties in Dis Place was created for the 8th Campo Garzón Art Fest, responding to the theme UN/settled: Migration + Movement. The project reflects on cultural displacement, adaptation, and belonging, using a blend of AI-generated video and physical installation to explore what it means to be a visitor in an unfamiliar place. Historically a stopover for gauchos and travellers moving between Argentina and Brazil, Pueblo Garzón is now a contemporary art hub. Immersed in this landscape, Niceaunties examined the tension between connection and alienation, reflecting on personal experiences of migration and temporary settlement. The final installation combines AI-generated aunties inserted into real village landscapes, exaggerating their presence as outsiders. The video, structured as a travel diary, integrates AI-trained visuals based on photographs taken during the residency. Large-scale auntie underwear was hung outside the exhibition site, humorously marking their presence, while filmy laundry sheets served as layered projection surfaces, mirroring the gradual process of cultural immersion. Viewers navigated these layers before reaching the main video piece, reinforcing the experience of transition and discovery. Part of the broader Auntieverse, Aunties in Dis Place reimagines the role of aunties beyond societal norms. Niceaunties is an evolving artistic practice integrating AI, digital media, and installation art to explore themes of community, migration, consumerism, and cultural identity. Through speculative storytelling, the project challenges perceptions of ageing, gender, and agency, offering a surreal yet deeply familiar perspective on how aunties shape—and reshape—the spaces they inhabit.