“On Lateral Intelligence”
I began using the term lateral intelligence to describe a pattern I repeatedly encountered in my work: moments of clarity that emerged not through linear analysis alone, but through the interaction of sound, movement, attention, and relational context. Over time, it became clear that understanding deepens when multiple ways of knowing—material, psychological, symbolic, and experiential—are considered together rather than in isolation.
— B. Gōnz Mejia
B. Gōnz Mejia is a Miami-raised artist and creative founder working at the intersection of sound, perception, and collective intelligence. Growing up in Miami’s global cultural landscape shaped how he thinks, listens, and builds—within a city where multiple languages, rhythms, and ways of knowing coexist and inform one another in real time.
A Nicaraguan American artist educated at Emerson College in Boston, Mejia’s practice moves fluidly across sound, story, and participatory art. His work centers on lateral intelligence, a term he coined to describe an approach to understanding and collaboration that considers multiple layers of explanation at once—from the material and psychological to the symbolic and experiential. Rather than privileging a single lens, lateral intelligence holds that clearer insight emerges when different ways of knowing are allowed to coexist and inform one another.
Recognized by the Knight Foundation, Mejia has developed projects that invite people to engage actively rather than observe passively. His work has been informed by international fellowships and cultural exchanges with organizations including Salzburg Global in Austria and 880 Cities in Toronto, as well as formative affiliations in Washington, DC and the Hudson Valley. These experiences continue to shape a practice that is rooted in place while remaining globally conversant.
He is the founder of HUEMUNS of PARADISE and the HUEMUNS Lateral Intelligence Hub and Creative Arts Studio, an ongoing Magnum Opus exploring how participatory art, sound, and interaction can support clarity, collaboration, and creative resilience. Through immersive environments, sonic works, and designed encounters, the platform reframes art as experience—inviting spectators to become co-creators in moments of complexity and change.
Across installations, performances, and facilitated workshops and participatory gatherings, Mejia’s work focuses on how HUEMUNS and teams gather, sense, and collaborate. Rather than offering art as spectacle, his practice creates conditions for attention, dialogue, and co-creation—grounded in Miami and oriented toward the future of collective intelligence.
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