Bernardo Varela

Bernardo Varela is a multidisciplinary artist exploring activations of mental imagery through ambiguous audiovisual stimuli.

Working with digital and situated experiences his practice investigates elements of experimental psychology combining audio scene analysis, motion perception and the brain's capacity to create meaning from noise.

“Aesthetic experiences can lead ourselves to question the way we perceive our immediate surroundings.  I’m interested in the power of human perception to readapt itself, especially when everyday stimuli, like background noise, can be perceived as something meaningful and extraordinary.”

Coming from an extensive experience in visual effects, he passionately incorporated sound design and field recordings to his practice during his Masters in Design for Performance and Interaction at UCL in 2019.

Born in Brazil and based in London, Bernardo started experimenting with connections between sounds, motion and light in the early 2000’s with Moleculagem, a brazilian collective of artists committed to exploring the possibilities of mixing art, video, music and technology, designing audiovisual and live performances.