The show is based on the story that inspired Toledo: a great flood drags alligators, turtles, and river fauna to a high mountain cave. When the water recedes, they are trapped. The alligator survives by devouring the rest.
Toledo turns this story into a metaphor for good rains and abundance. The spectacle takes up this idea to show La Lagartera, after its conservation, as a living organism returning to the city of Monterrey.
Mapping an artwork of the dimensions and topography of La Lagartera was, with traditional methods, almost impossible.
So we invented a new method.
We did not adapt the artwork to videomapping: we adapted videomapping to the artwork. We designed a generative workflow from start to finish —3D reconstruction, depth maps, meshes, and frame-by-frame animation with machine learning— executed on local models.
Everything is born from a zenithal drone shot of La Lagartera. That real photograph becomes the geometric and chromatic base for every subsequent step of the workflow.
We estimate a depth map that translates ridges, cracks, and cavities into three-dimensional information. It's the bridge between the flat image and the real volume of the piece.
With generative tools we reconstruct extremely high-density models and meshes —over 5 million polygons— that reproduce the exact surface of the artwork to design and preview the show.
On that base, we animate frame-by-frame with machine learning models executed locally in ComfyUI. Each frame is synthesized guided by depth and mesh, fitting into the piece's geometry. No cloud, no external services: total control over the result.
And the result is projected back onto the sculpture. Explore it in 3D ↓
The exact same 3D model we used to design the show, with the videomapping projected onto its surface. Rotate it, zoom in, discover it from any angle.
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The sculpture remains in almost total darkness. Francisco Toledo's voice is heard with a phrase about La Lagartera, water, and abundance.
The phrase appears written on the sculpture or reflected in the water.
Almost complete darkness, with just a minimal breath of light.
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Silence. Toledo's voice enters and, at the end, a deep drone anticipates the awakening.
The great flood sweeps away alligators, turtles, and river fauna. The show starts from the brute force of nature.
Water rising violently: currents, foam, mud, and whirlpools. The relief appears and disappears under the storm.
Low blues and grays. Brief white strobes reveal scales, ridges, and cavities.
Diagonal rain, lightning, and grazing lines that mark the speed of the water.
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Pre-Hispanic percussion, strings in tension, rain, wind, and thunder. Everything grows to the limit.
The flood has passed. The water drains and the sculpture begins to reveal itself. The calm is false: something remained trapped inside.
Water dripping and sliding down the relief. The ridge, cracks, and crevices appear for the first time.
Cold, damp light, with silver reflections and a slow breathing of light.
Very soft strokes, almost grazing, like steam or water draining over the stone.
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Dripping, water draining, and a very faint solo cello. The percussion disappears.
The animals were trapped with the alligator. There is no way out. The sculpture becomes a predatory organism.
The cavities become cave mouths. Turtles, fish, frogs, and crabs appear in flashes. Bites and shakes are hinted at inside the stone.
Hard contrasts, cavities in total shadow, dark ambers, and deep reds on the ridge.
Aggressive and angular cuts. The space becomes a cage.
Low, precise shots synchronized with the lunges. Dramatic, not celebratory.
Dry percussion, dissonant strings, animal breathing, and cracking from inside the stone.
The water returns, not as a disaster but as a force that envelops, drags, and transforms what was left in the cave.
The piece is covered with water again. The trapped animals dissolve in the current and the sculpture turns into waves.
Dense blues and dark greens. Fluid pulses that accompany the new rise of the water.
Broad currents, enveloping diagonals, and the sensation of water filling the space.
Isolated strikes to sustain the climax, less intense than in the previous part.
The full orchestra enters. Pre-Hispanic percussion returns, integrated into the crescendo.
The water no longer destroys: it blesses. Toledo's universe emerges whole and the restored sculpture returns to the city as a symbol of abundance.
Luminous water running across the piece. The alligator, turtles, frogs, fish, and crabs appear clearly. The relief is drawn as if Toledo were tracing it again.
Damp greens, soft amber, and bright whites. The sculpture reveals itself whole, monumental, and alive.
Soft verticals and a rain of light over the piece. Open and breathable strokes.
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The music resolves in harmony. Calm water, luminous strings, and a chirimía to close.
Propuesta original de animación: 3D Reconstruction, mapas de profundidad, workflow con modelos locales.
alterlab.studioCreative direction. Show design, original music, projection, and staging on the artwork.
ëskuamxMapping · lighting · laser · audio. The comprehensive production of the show in the city.
proshow monterrey