Marissa Sean Cruz

Prison escapee Tommy Gods spirals into deeper trouble when he falls for Joe Plísek and is forced to work for her crooked uncle. Together, the couple plots to steal his "golden goose."

“BILLED-A-BEAR ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ” is a video installation that satirizes the ever-widening popularity of non-fungible tokens (known as NFTs) and their value in the art market. This work remixes the capitalist jargon, authentication practices and digital branding surrounding NFTs in comparison to the white-hot Beanie Baby resale market. The video looks at bear symbolism in culture and media – a commonly reproduced form seen in toys, television, video games, books and candy. This work critiques originality, progressive and e-commerce platforms contextualized in a time of rapid digital reproduction under capitalism.

“BILLED-A-BEAR ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ” is a video installation that satirizes the ever-widening popularity of non-fungible tokens (known as NFTs) and their value in the art market. This work remixes the capitalist jargon, authentication practices and digital branding surrounding NFTs in comparison to the white-hot Beanie Baby resale market. The video looks at bear symbolism in culture and media – a commonly reproduced form seen in toys, television, video games, books and candy. This work critiques originality, progressive and e-commerce platforms contextualized in a time of rapid digital reproduction under capitalism.

In "SPINELESS", artist Marissa Sean Cruz embodies an ogre-girl character who gets a bone lodged in her throat and is unsure if she has died from asphyxiation. Set in a digitally-rendered room , this abstracted narrative is told through a series of vignettes that look to greed, hope, and self-fulfilment in contemporary times. The ogre is caught in the chokehold of some kind of technological hell that is as absurd and alienating as the real online/offline culture it references. This purgatory world formed from a digital economy, nihilism and pressingly, under the state of climate crisis.

[AD]Venture Capital is a video analysis of the tourism industry’s relationship to power, capital, and surveillance. In it, the artist crafts a surreal portrait of a popular military vehicle-turned-tour-bus attraction’s mascot, The Harbour Hopper Frog. This character longs for a civilized life while trapped in a matrix database known as "DigiLand." In a blend of manipulated drone footage, webcam recordings, and pop cultural imagery [AD]Venture Capital is a poetic narrative documenting information privacy and image circulation amidst a muddling of online/offline landscapes.

Two strangers connect through the BetterHell App and bond over their fears and unrealized dreams. When a paywall threatens their relationship, they risk everything to meet–in real life.