In-between-place, space, void

[P]lace is the product of lived space and lived time, a reflection of our states of mind and heart.

Monotype, acrylic paint on hot pressed paper ,300gr, 100% cotton, Dim: 9”x 12”

I have been reflecting upon the Japanese concept of Ma, described as a pause in time, an interval, or emptiness in space.

In this series of monoprints, I have been exploring the negative space. The process unravels like a story written in reverse, I cover the surface with paint to take it away. 

Monotype, acrylic paint on hot pressed paper ,300gr, 100% cotton, Dim: 9”x 12”

Sculpting the void, The act of uncovering is a communion with the silence between breaths, the stillness between thoughts, and the potency of pause.

Monotype, acrylic paint on hot pressed paper ,300gr, 100% cotton, Dim: 9”x 12”

current statement

My creative practice is woven with the spaces and places that surround me. I see the process of art making as a dynamic experience that involves exploring, observing, and conversing with the places I inhabit. A key element in my perspective is the idea that the body is similar to a sponge, absorbing and reflecting the world around it. Akin to the layers of the earth, these different aspects of the body are constantly exchanging with the environment and other people. I take in the energy and stories of my surroundings, and in return, I contribute my own thoughts, feelings, interpretations and actions to the ecosystem.

body mound interaction-photomontage

While engaging with my work I am sensitive to the hierarchical perspective that shapes reality.  I ask myself how perception is shaped through context and relationship. The prevalence of valuing image over experience is a societal undercurrent that shapes our interactions with the world. This perspective extends not only to our interpersonal relationships but also to our interaction with nature. I strive to peel back these layers and dive into the depth of genuine contact and experience.

I collect images, sounds and things from my surroundings to create compositions that I trace, record and photograph to use as personal references throughout the process. Back in the studio, I use a variety of digital and analog approaches, including drawing, relief prints, mono-prints, embossing, photocopying, and photomontage to render the work in space.

field transactions-drawing series

A desire for the haptic propels me into drawing and creating new narratives as context for my work. "Body as Land," my recent publication, articulates a dialogue between the human form and the landscape. The narrative combines drawings, text, photography, and body imprints encapsulating the research and artistic output from my residency in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2021 interwoven with post-editorial collaborations alongside Guido Grosso of Studio 1993 in Argentina. The publication explores the editorial space as a conceptual framework stretching the boundaries of art, photography, and design.


Currently, I’m exploring the interplay between private and public spaces. This inquiry, set in two locations, governors island and my home/studio in Ridgewood, NY, delves into both physical and metaphorical layers, excavating the complexities that lie beneath family dynamics, cultural and social structures, architectural and urban landscapes, and the utilization of land. 

Birds eye view of Governors Island, image courtesy of the New York Historical Society

collage & ink on paper

SOBRE LA FORMA DE LOS LUGARES SIN LIMITES_ESPACIO VIVO INFINITO_PROPUESTA BIENALSUR_2020-2021



SÍNTESIS DE PROYECTO

“Si el tiempo es un proceso mental, ¿cómo lo pueden compartir miles de hombres, o aún dos hombres distintos?” (Jorge Luis Borges, 1936, Pag.3)


El tiempo circular, ensayo de Jorge Luis Borges en la Historia de la eternidad, plantea sus vueltas al análisis sobre el eterno retorno, enfatizando la doctrina de Blanqui, la cual refuerza mundos iguales o desiguales tanto en tiempo como en espacio y pretende demostrar que el universo (el cual está lleno de copias de los originales que pueden presentar modificaciones) es infinito en tiempo y en espacio, eterno, sin límites e indivisible.

La idea de eterno retorno se refiere así a un concepto circular de los acontecimientos a lo largo de la historia. La historia no será lineal, sino cíclica. Una vez cumplido un ciclo de hechos, éstos vuelven a ocurrir con otras circunstancias, pero siendo, básicamente, semejantes.

Como leemos en una de sus reflexiones, el caso equivaldría al de un hombre que da la vuelta al mundo: no dice que el punto de partida y el punto de llegada son dos lugares diferentes o muy parecidos; dice que son el mismo lugar.

En febrero de 2019, colaboramos por primera vez como un grupo de artistas a la distancia, estableciendo vínculos inmateriales entre las ciudades: Córdoba-New York, Córdoba-Berlín. La intención era generar un nuevo espacio para la exploración y experimentación del arte como acción, hecho efímero- espontáneo. La relación  simultánea de los acontecimientos  a la distancia nos llevó a expandir los límites espacio-tiempo de donde se ve y se pulsa arte.  Como consecuencia, acordamos un marco de referencia temporal, al cual todos nos conectamos.  Materializamos así, una interacción que duró aproximadamente tres horas en donde cada artista compartía su proceso – proyecto en vivo. Múltiples líneas de conexión surgieron entre proyectos dando lugar a nuevas formas de interacción y muestra. La ciudad de Córdoba-Argentina fue la sede material de este encuentro y fue allí donde sucedió este primer experimento, algunos proyectos se encontraban físicamente presentes, otros, proyectando a través del borde virtual. A partir de este desarrollo, nacieron los siguientes interrogantes: ¿Es el espacio físico de Córdoba el espacio real para todos los proyectos?; ¿Es el tiempo real del artista transmitiendo, el real para el resto de los artistas?, ¿Y la audiencia, en qué espacio tiempo se vincula con el arte emitido?

Surgió así; lo que llamamos espacio vivo ∞ (infinito): una dimensión de encuentro común que propicia la interacción fluida de los tiempos, la experimentación, la participación y el diálogo entre múltiples formas de expresión/arte.  

Apelando a un fenómeno ya ocurrido, presentamos aquí el siguiente proyecto, utilizando como referencia el primer experimento-interacción. De esta manera cada proyecto artístico en su latitud y tiempo real, se expresa trascendiendo los límites de las coordenadas cartesianas (x,y,z).  El tiempo real, distinto para cada proyecto o acción, se lleva al presente (vivo∞ infinito) para que la interacción suceda. Esta acción instintiva e inmaterial, permite que cada artista con su proyecto imagine y establezca líneas de conexión con otros proyectos. Aparece así, la red como una obra espontánea. La experiencia desvanece el concepto de punto o proyecto individual para transformarse en red/ múltiples proyectos, abriéndose a una nueva inteligencia capaz de establecer vínculos entre diferencias.

Proyectos autónomos y cerrados, se desarticulan a partir del intercambio y de la sincronía que pueda generarse a través del compartir indeliberado con otros proyectos bajo un espacio común, generando así redes orgánicas de agenciamiento. Lo interesante es, no sólo la expresión algebraica que genera esta red de proyectos en su totalidad, sino también cómo un proyecto “cerrado” muta, a partir de conectarse con el proyecto de otro artista. 

La audiencia hace las veces de hilo conductor o elemento vinculante.

Esta red de conexión también se puede visualizar como un mapa que se produce a través de la acción. Donde aparece un cuarto plano, el borde virtual como vehículo de estas acciones simultáneas. El modelo denomina la multiplicidad descentrada, que no es doblegada a un orden general. Se refiere al concepto de rizoma.

“El rizoma opera por variación, expansión, conquista, captura y retoños. El rizoma pertenece a un mapa que debe ser producido y construido, un mapa que es desmontable, reversible, conectable, modificable, con múltiples entradas y salidas y con sus propias líneas de fuga, como trazos”. (Deleuze & Guattari, 1980, p.21).

Cualquier punto puede ser conectado con cualquier otro, y debe serlo por considerarse una figura abierta, cuyos elementos (todos heterogéneos) se entrelazan ininterrumpidamente unos con otros. El espacio rizomático es un lugar de transformación y de mezcla, donde no empieza ni acaba, una red, una web, un sitio sin centro.  Compuesto por dimensiones o mejor dicho direcciones en movimiento.  No tiene principio ni fin, pero siempre un medio desde y hacia donde crece y se derrama. De esta manera, la acción desdibuja el concepto de punto para transformarse en red, con todas las posibles conexiones que se generen, mutando, manipulando y enriqueciendo cada proyecto, gracias a la sincronicidad espontánea y orgánica que se va desarrollando. Cada experiencia es distinta y única, y la red que se genere es propia de ese momento, dada por los proyectos/ artistas que participen y las transformaciones que se den entre ellas.

Hoy junio del 2020, transitamos un momento único en la historia de la humanidad, sin embargo, lleno de episodios que se repiten. Somos testigos de algo que se cierra para volver abrirse. Es el principio de un fin, el tiempo circular, el “entre las cosas”, el presente perfecto para detenernos y pensar: ¿qué modelo vincular queremos propiciar para seguir transitando?

“Hay gente que dice que la historia se mueve en espiral, no linealmente como podríamos esperar. Viajamos a través del tiempo con una trayectoria circular, y la distancia crece desde un epicentro para luego retomar, una vez deshecho el círculo. (...) el pasado no era nunca un paisaje fijo e inactivo, sino siempre algo que se vuelve a ver. Querámoslo o no, viajamos en espiral, creando algo nuevo a partir de lo que ya es pasado” (Vuong Ocean, 2019, pág 29.)

Bibliografía

-Jorge Luis Borges. Historia de la eternidad. Viau y Zona, Buenos Aires, 1936.

-Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari. Mil mesetas, capitalismo y esquizofrenia. Universidad de Minnesota press. 1980

-Voung Ocean. En la tierra somos fugazmente grandiosos. Anagrama, 2019.


ESPACIO SUGERIDO

La instalación propuesta es un volumen contenido en una escala o espacio más amplio (edificio, teatro, casa, plaza). El montaje del mismo dará lugar al espacio donde sucede el arte vivo. Este volumen, actúa como un receptor, un espacio vacío que recibe y activa diferentes proyectos artísticos, alojando en su interior a la audiencia, la cual lo experimenta transitándolo.

El tamaño, escala, dimensiones y envolventes de este volumen, van a depender de la cantidad de proyectos que interactúen, como así también de la arquitectura que los albergue. Es nuestra intención que la audiencia se apropie del espacio generando sus propios recorridos. Una vez adentro, el espacio se fracciona en subespacios, permitiendo mostrar en cada uno de ellos diferentes proyectos (música, sonido, video, imagen, escultura, pintura, etc) sucediendo en otros lugares del mundo, que serán proyectados en el espacio de la bienal a través de una cámara web vía mainstream Channel.

En cuanto a la materialidad, proponemos planos como paneles divisorios confeccionados en tela miriñaque, el ancho de cada panel es de 90 cm, la altura varía de acuerdo al espacio disponible. Lo cual permite un versátil montaje y desmontaje, adaptándose a las condiciones del entorno, generando así los subespacios con transiciones lentas y graduales y hasta la posible superposición de proyectos.

Los espacios técnicos se colocan en dos zócalos, uno superior y otro inferior. El zócalo inferior alberga las instalaciones eléctricas para poder montar determinados proyectos que estén sucediendo en otra ciudad o lugar. El superior contendrá el sistema de anclaje para montar cada panel, y una cámara en la unión de ambos ejes, para poder registrar el intercambio producido entre los proyectos dentro de los subespacios en interacción con la audiencia. De esta manera y a través de la tecnología, todo lo que se registre en ese momento podrá ser transmitido en vivo en los diferentes espacios que se realizan las muestras, generando así el ciclo de retorno a la fuente.

Así, en la simpleza de las formas y la sencillez resolutiva, obtenemos una instalación flexible. El montaje se disuelve, motivando el encuentro entre la obra y la audiencia.  Todo lo que sucede dentro de este espacio receptivo, incluyendo los diferentes proyectos y la incorporación de nociones espacio-temporales diferentes, es integrado a través de la percepción del espectador.



CURADURIA

{Florencia Bertorello, Alexia Bosco, Guadalupe Fassi, Flavia Bertorello}

¿De que somos alimento?

Inexplicable, lo siento en mis entrañas, entre la curvatura de las costillas y todo lo que hay detrás, lo que alberga una cantidad inagotable de imágenes, sentimientos, ruidos, movimientos. La memoria estomacal. Respirando con profunda intensión, mis manos se elevaban al sentir el aire llenando la caja torácica, como un globo que se expande cuando se infla. Consecutivamente, me repito la pregunta: ¿a qué tenes miedo? La indiferencia inunda el espacio, me resulta difícil seguir estando. Estando con mi propio cuerpo. Me voy por ahí pensando en cosas inútiles, recordando eventos dolorosos o graciosos. Mi cuerpo sigue recostado, mis manos apoyadas, mi mente se dispara. Mientras, hago todo lo posible por recordarme que vuelva, que vuelva ahí: al preciso momento y espacio donde la mano se poza y el viento la roza.

IMG_6577.jpg

Madre Sierra, mural, hecho por arte musivo, cordoba, Argentina

Growth & Evolution / Jewellery Exhibition 2020/ Shanghai, China. Art jewellery group: Natalia Gomensoro & Flavia Bertorello

 coil of life

Evolution and growth lie at the heart of every cell in our bodies as a tiny kernel of sticklike chromosomes inside which genetic information is encoded and transported.  The impact a molecule composed of two chains that coil around each other carrying genetic instructions has in our conception of life is immeasurable, yet unseen. How elegant the self-replication process can be at a molecular level and how much information and diversity can be packed into something so small…DNA, looks like a stepladder that has been twisted around, into a complex combination of chemical elements that make the spinning possible.  This kinetic, ever changing force is what makes us unique, what makes us grow and evolve. We envision the future of jewellery resting on this infinite, ever- adapting, ever-changing pattern.

IMG_5938.png
IMG_5937.png
sterling silver, commercial magnets, iron rebar, iron particles & pigments. variable dim.

sterling silver, commercial magnets, iron rebar, iron particles & pigments. variable dim.

process

pro1.jpg
mosaic 1.jpg
pro3.jpg
Growth & Evolution _ Finalist.jpg

Beijing Design Week Venue

Beijing Design Week Venue

body fragments_thesis culmination dialogue

photo: Ilyn Wong, courtesy of Transart Institute.

photo: Ilyn Wong, courtesy of Transart Institute.

photo: Ilyn Wong, courtesy of Transart Institute.

photo: Ilyn Wong, courtesy of Transart Institute.

photo: Ilyn Wong, courtesy of Transart Institute.

photo: Ilyn Wong, courtesy of Transart Institute.

photo: Ilyn Wong, courtesy of Transart Institute.

photo: Ilyn Wong, courtesy of Transart Institute.

photo: Ilyn Wong, courtesy of Transart Institute.

photo: Ilyn Wong, courtesy of Transart Institute.

Reading Diary: MAGIC MATERIALITY: with Susan Ploetz

According to the author, tool signs have a wide range of attributes for the Batak people, from the concrete to the abstract, tool-signs are believed to condense the relation between subject and form, vision and hearing, smell and other sensory experiences. As he further explains, the creator and user of tool-signs is not a simple executor of tasks but he/she relies on a stock of cultural knowledge combined with a process of discovery, individual creativity and direct experimentation. I find this fascinating.

As a process artist I experience a strong connection with the materials I use. It is difficult to explain with the rational mind the sensory motivations I experience while touching, smelling, seeing and hearing the materials. The instinctual part of my being guides this process.  It’s as if the forms, elements and substances I interact with permeate and alter my whole being. It is through this tactile interaction (experimentation) that I perceive an exchange and, in the exchange, I catch a glimpse of wholeness within. This is why I regard the process of my work as a total body experience: my work and body in a constant state of change and exchange, each informing and altering the other.

Consciously or not, I choose to make stuff with materials/ elements/ qualities that are deficient in me:  my interactions with iron began (in 2014) when I was diagnosed with an iron deficiency. The doctor’s report stated an imbalance in iron and iron binding capacity in my system. It wasn’t something I could picture but surely felt as strong headaches and body fatigue. As I introduced iron into my diet, the element became more and more a part of my life. While trying to eat more meat, spinach and lentils, I also began using iron particles as one of the principal materials for my work. Years later (in 2018) the doctor’s report stated that the iron within my blood had sky-rocketed, so high that it was actually out of range.  In a counter balance act, during 2019, I have been experimenting with iron in water, observing the rapid effects of oxidation of the material led me to a process I called: “turning iron particles into dust”, distilling a more refined version of the material/element I had been working with for so long. I asked myself, have I reached a balance of iron in my blood through this process?        

Batak world view suggests that is not the body that becomes impregnated with a particular quality via contagious transfer and ingestion. Rather, it is the body that modulates itself naturally attuning itself to the qualities of food and the animals and plants that that food derives from.

 I reformulate the previous question: Is my body in flux/ tuned to iron?

 

IMG_1827-b.png

MFA culmination Dialogue_Kate & Flavia _August 10th 2019

Title of Dialogue:

Iron and Granite: IN Conversation

 

Structure of the presentation/ dialogue:

Date: August 10th

Location: Uffer studios, studio #6

Timeline:

                -6:00 PM               15’ Kate’s performance

               - 6:15 PM                20’ open gallery space

               - 6:35PM                 15’ Flavia’s presentation

               -6:50 PM                  20’ discussion

 

Short descriptive text about dialogue presentation:

The Transart Institute

 Berlin, Germany – The Transart Institute presents Flavia Bertorello’s Fragmented Body and Kate Hilliard’s Core Sample: A Creative Practice, August 10th, 2019 at 6:00pm, Uferstudios GmbH

Uferstr. 23. Iron and Granite exhibits the sculptural and performance work of two graduating Masters students, as they complete their final research in Creative Practice at The Transart Institute. Both worlds explore the changing states of materiality over time, to denote varying ranges of distance between memory and trauma.

 New York based artist and architect, Flavia Bertorello investigates relationships between form and matter through a domestic practice which includes: writing, experimenting with metals, observing and listening. The bodies that she creates are the remnants of the exchange that takes place between her body and the materials during the process of making.

 Toronto based artist Kate Hilliard describes movement as a language. Her practice focuses on spoken words and the many ways that our bodies can betray meaning as we communicate and miscommunicate.  Hilliard writes poems into the body and crafts performances from the body, as a way of distilling what has happened. Her dance thesis is both book and live performance and is expressed through five separate chapters: subject, code, conversation, fracture, and memory.

MFA culmination Dialogue_kate & Flavia_image.png

 Please join artists in residency from the Transart Institute for an evening of exhibition and dialogue in studio 6 at Uferstudios on August 10th 2019 at 6pm.


What are the connection between the partner/s, common themes, questions, what you will discuss?

Common Themes:

-Space is the background/ backdrop where we both refer our practices to. Kate uses space as a dancer, Flavia explores the domestic/ intimate use of space as a maker.

- Both our practices are Interdisciplinary

- Speaking from different angles. We are both acknowledging a cut though our practices. We address the body with intent and care to further acknowledge and understand the break, the fragments.

 

I would like to talk about (Flavia):

- Boundaries between life and art practice: tension/ confrontation, contemplation/ transformation within my domestic practice.

- Integration between  my practice as an artist & architect: the embodiment of balance as the thing I’m aiming for.

Reading Diary: BECOMING-ANIMAL: with Michael Bowdidge

For Deleuze & Guattari : “becoming occurs in concrete and material states-of-affairs that express impersonal forces in order to transform sensible forces that would otherwise remain insensible.” I ask myself: is becoming intrinsic to being in this world, either as animal or human? What makes me see me as human? What makes humans perceive cat as animal? Causes? Conditions?

 What distinguish man from animal? Is it Perception? Is it Memory? Is it the intellect? Is it knowing?

In the Iliad homer describes death in the battlefield for both human & animal. The human description makes me think of some kind of heightened/ complex form of consciousness imbued with resistance perceiving that moment of death. In the animal description I’m left with the sensation that in such presence there is complete surrender.  Deleuze argues that it is not humans but animals who know how to die. I Resound with Deleuze’s thoughts. I deeply admire animal instinctual wisdom. I have been living with a curious ever-present cat for about 9 years. He knows how to rest. He knows how to delineate boundaries by moving gracefully in space…I’m sure he will know how to die.

boy down the wrinkly way-charcoal on paper

boy down the wrinkly way-charcoal on paper

Also, I like to think of becoming spontaneous as described in the book “The phenomenon of man” by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin : - “We are dealing with only one event, the orthogenesis of everything living towards a higher degree of immanent spontaneity. To write the true natural history of the world, we should need to be able to follow it from within. It would thus appear no longer as an interlocking succession of structural types replacing one another, but as an ascension of inner sap spreading out in a forest of consolidated instincts. Right at its base, the living world is constituted by consciousness clothed in flesh and bone. From the biosphere to the species is nothing but an immense ramification of psychism seeking for itself through different forms…”

Documentation_m506_year 2

BODY FRAGMENTS

My focus during these 10 months of practice has been very personal and introspective. I understand it now as a threshold, a space I needed to inhabit in order to address change (mainly related to the habits I have created during the 10 + years of practice as an architect), as well as to embody my practice as an artist in a more balanced way.  

I aimed to integrate my body within the context of my previous work as a sculptress and through this process I discovered the relevance of the sensorial, intuitive part of my practice. There is an exchange between my body and the materials I chose to work with, both informing one another. 

 As a process artist, I experience a strong connection with the materials I engage with and, in time, even come to embody their qualities.  My interactions with iron began in 2014 when I was diagnosed with an iron deficiency. The doctor’s report stated an imbalance in iron and iron binding capacity in my system. It wasn’t something I could picture but surely felt as strong headaches and body fatigue. As I introduced iron into my diet, consciously or not, the element became more and more a part of my life. While trying to eat more meat, spinach and lentils, I also began using iron particles as one of the principal materials for my work. Years later, in 2018, the doctor’s report stated that the iron within my blood had sky-rocketed, so high that it was actually out of range.

 

Upon my return from Berlin, in September 2018, I was pondering the notion of inner-transformation when I stumbled upon a rusty piece of metal.  I followed my urge to bring it home and experiment with this decaying piece of iron. I began within: within my blood, within my home.

turning iron into dust

In my bathroom, I managed to fit a plastic bucket big enough to submerge the iron piece in water with some other materials. I placed this bucket on the floor between the tub and the sink as my work space.  The rusty object mixed with water, magnets, fabric, scrap metal and iron shavings, creating a kind of soup that I left to ferment for a few weeks.  It was fascinating to watch how the media reacted and changed during this time of experimentation. In the beginning, a metallic brown layer formed on the surface where the rusty water met the air, looking almost iridescent.  After a few days, I decided to add some vinegar to accelerate the process of oxidation.

bucket materials sample_ October 2018

bucket materials sample_ October 2018

bucket materials sample_ May 2019

bucket materials sample_ May 2019

The thin, iridescent layer turned into a voluptuous foam of brownish coloration accompany with a strong odor, which added to the atmosphere in a very particular way.  My house smelled like blood at first and after some days of oxidation, began to smell like cheese.  Sharing this later with a scientist friend, I confirmed the proliferation of bacteria.

I began collecting the foam daily, carefully scooping it with a metal knife and pouring it onto white parchment paper.  Experimenting as a painter, I tilted the parchment paper so the liquid would spread; tracing boundaries and delineating intersections towards wide and open areas like a map of unknown territory, marked by interesting textures.  Once dry, I discovered that the foam had turned into dust, bringing about an eerie transmutation of the material (iron).

Iron dust

Iron dust

During this month-long experiment, as my materials transformed, I also underwent a physical and psychic transformation. I had dreams of vomiting and excretion and would wake up feeling relief from purging.  Waking up every morning with excitement to a newly formed layer of foam to scrape out became a ritual.  Over the course of a few days the foam subsided and I was left with a jar of iron dust. This jar now sits on the highest shelf of a bookcase in my living room. The refined, dust-like consistency creates clouds within the jar every time I shake it. I want to make more of this but I’m having trouble recreating it. I tried this experiment again with a different piece of rusty metal and was unable to recreate the foam or the characteristic smell of my initial experiment. I believe the initial piece of rusty metal had a particular bacterium on it that had caused that reaction.  This, for me, is an analogy for how significant and ephemeral those moments of creativity are.   I caught a glimpse of wholeness, in spite of not being able to recreate the same results again.

The bathroom became my laboratory, the place I tended to every day to observe the transmutation of iron, as much as to deal with the intimate aspects of my body.  I was able to manifest and experience massive transmutations of the materials within this microcosm, without having to buy materials from the store.  I was capable of distilling a more refined version of the material/element I had been working with for so long.  That, in itself, opened a door to the vast possibilities of the material and to my agency as a creator. 

I ask myself, have I reached a balance of iron in my blood through this process?       


A a spatial intervention that manifests the idea of a threshold-a gap- space between other space.

Iron drawings- artist book

Iron drawings- artist book

I want to create an artist book with this pile of drawings. I currently have them air-bound within a box. These are the ones that still contain the strong odor I experienced within my whole apartment during the process of oxidation.

Iron dust, resin bubble, metal ring/ object

Tiny spheres shining in the dark, sprawling the dessert ground…is a work in progress

work dissemination_experimental installation_NY-CBA_03-02-2019

NY -INSTALLATION -SOUND PERFORMANCE

Particle lake was set in motion under a vaulted ceiling, a 110-foot cast iron dome resting on stone arches, featuring a colorful mural of symbols and rays, extending up towards the blue sky.

 In 2010, the Williamsburg Savings Bank, a 135-year old landmark building, a classical revival in style began a four-year of meticulous, all-encompassing interior and exterior restoration. I was part of this process in collaboration with other architects, artisans and artists and still have access to this stunning work of art and architecture of monumental proportions. Having the opportunity, I chose to utilize it as a site to further experiment and engage with spatial and architectural elements that relate to the ideas of polarity and impermanence already present within my process, and to emphasize the original conceptual statement proposed for this live-stream/ experimental performance, bearing in mind the macro scale of the dome in relationship with the micro scale of the sculpture as well as considering the apparent motion of the vaulted mural in dialogue with the actual motion of iron particles tilting and turning onto the limited surface of the sculpture. Experimenting with sound was part of the challenge, considering this monolithic structure mainly built in granite and marble, where acoustic is poor and echo is always present.

Casting, reflecting, projecting, motion, sound and light. The whole thing happened in 1 ½ hour period of time, it was an introspective and collaborative play, we were 6 people in the space, each of us chose to interact with an instrument/ object.  Playing motion with the sculpture, sound with bells, and multiple instruments including kalimba, guitar, percussion, pedal loops and lights. In tandem, these interactions are being recorded by the use of a web cam while traveling 8,000 km down south and transmitted via livestream technology. The whole package of sound, light and image is being projected in Cordoba- Argentina within a room of small proportions, it is loud and crowded. People come in and out while a musician is improvising with a piano.

LIVE STREAMING_NORTH (NY) SOUTH (CBA-ARGENTINA)

A multilayered piece of sound and sculpture using: guitar, kalimba, loop pedals, percussion, voice and bells to create a reflective, repetitive, open and bright sound environment in dialogue with of a kinetic sculpture composed of iron particles, copper bar, magnets and battery oriented motor.

duration: 1 1/2 Hour


LIVESTREAM PROJECTION- SOUND PERFORMANCE-CBA-ARGENTINA

The whole package of sound, light and image is being received and projected in Cordoba- Argentina within a room of small proportions, it is loud and crowded. People come in and out of the room while a musician is improvising with a piano.


What happened during this experimental exhibit took place simultaneously in three places at the same moment in different latitudes and coordinates of time and space including the virtual edge. The use of technology opened an array of possibilities to different ways of sharing the work, a virtual, less tangible form, far from the limits of the walls within the studio. The realization of new possibilities for interaction, sharing and collaboration sprung together with the potential resting in the interaction between work and experience.

The work and words of the kinetic artist Julio Le Parc comes to mind after recently visiting his show at the Met Breuer. The following are notes I took from an interview done to the artists which I found inspiring to my process:

His work was about creating an experience without conducting any sort of scientific investigation but rather based on direct experience and practice. On one side it was the experience on the surface he created (diagrams, drawings and kinetic sculptures) and on the other side was the viewer, in between was the relationship between the eye and the surface proposed. Back in the 60’s and 70’s, when he developed his work the spectator was left out from the world of visual arts, in turn he wanted each spectator, with whatever she or he possessed in and of himself and with his/her own innate capacity to see, observe and interact, to be able to establish a relationship with the presented experience or work. Experimenting with that meant putting before the spectator not a fixed work that would be full of possibilities but rather the possibilities themselves as infinite variables facing the viewer.