La Fundación Telefónica presents The End of the Eclipse, a collection housed in a space of two-thousand square meters, which contains the work of twenty-six Latin American artists. All types of formats and supports are on display: installations, photography, video, painting, and sculpture actions and objects. The project focuses on the work of artists who mark the fundamental artistic tendencies during this period of transition.
AN OPEN DISCOURSE ON THE ART OF TODAY
According to the organizer, José Jiménez, "there is a series of indications suggesting that finally, the art coming out of Latin America is achieving the level of recognition on the international scene that it deserves, both for its quality and cultural uniqueness. The End of the Eclipse attempts to make advances in this direction, creating an open critical dialogue about today’s art as produced in this large community of countries and cultures.
The exhibit is founded on one key concept and metaphor: the end of an eclipse. The term "eclipse" denotes the disappearance of an astral object by a body interposing itself between this astral object and the observer’s eye, or between the astral object and the sun which is illuminating it. Therefore, this term is the most precise for what I wish to convey; specifically, that it is not the case that Latin American art has not produced quality or value in its own right. Rather, when approaching this art for a direct undistorted view, the interposed "body" of ideological colonialism and neoclassicism has impeded us from truly seeing it.
An eclipse may be partial or total. In this case it is partial. Thanks to this eclipse, the moments of recognition which Latin American art has achieved have always been fragmented or something of an exception. Nonetheless, it is now possible to attempt a direct viewing of this art, without any foreign body interposing itself, impeding or altering our view.
Obviously, we are not making reference here to the dogmatic pretension of "absolute viewability". I am speaking of a direct viewing in the hermeneutic sense, a faithful and rigorous interpretation of the reality of Latin American art, while avoiding prejudices and previously assumed stances.
NEW PERSPECTIVES IN LATIN AMERICAN ART
"This is not about a collection of "Latin American art", explains José Jiménez, something which, he says, does not actually exist (beyond market posturing) since it suggests a homogeneity within this art collective. Nor is the exhibit a selection of work and artists gathered using geographical or diplomatic criteria, in which all the cultures and countries making up Latin America were, in some way, represented.
The purpose behind the exhibit is very specific: to provide a different image, more open and intense, of the art originating in Latin America. It focuses on those artists who, with their projects, open avenues or perspectives for work which seem significant for the new century we have entered. The exhibit points out that, when considering the horizon of the new century, art coming from Latin America is simply that – art. As such, it is far from the issues and assumptions that obsessively surrounded it during the twentieth century - references such as "identity", "center/periphery", "magic realism", "wildness", "exotic", etc. – ideas which perhaps limited a wider recognition of this art.
The artists participating in the exhibit are as follows:
Liliana Porter, Pablo Reinoso, Jorge Macchi, Fabiana Barreda, Augusto Zanela (Argentina)
Cildo Meireles, Tunga, Rosângela Rennó, Ernesto Neto, Eduardo Kac, Adriana Varejâo, José Damasceno (Brazil)
Alfredo Jaar (Chile)
María Fernanda Cardoso, Nadín Ospina (Colombia)
Marta María Pérez Bravo, Carlos Garaicoa, Ernesto Leal (Cuba)
César Martínez, Yolanda Gutiérrez, Gustavo Artigas, Pablo Vargas Lugo, Abraham Cruzvillegas (Mexico)
Luis Camnitzer, Ignacio Iturria (Uruguay)
Meyer Vaisman (Venezuela)
A DIVERSE AND PLURAL ART
The organizer has designed the positioning of the pieces in the form of a dialogue: "The sets and public presentations of the pieces will be done with exceptional care, dedicating each artist his/her own space, while at the same time the artist’s work forms part of the overall concept of the exhibit. The goal is to prevent interference between the various pieces that might arise from a simply coincidental grouping, something which unfortunately occurs often in collective exhibits. With the careful positioning of the pieces a dialogue occurs between the work on display. Thus, using a rigorous intellectual approach, the attempt is to facilitate as much as possible the "legibility" of the exhibit for the public."
In addition to the specific projects of all the artists mentioned, certain key video art selections will be presented, in addition to Net art, incorporated into the display area.
Another key aspect to the exhibit, the result of an intense planning, is the catalogue. It will include an analysis of the exhibit by its organizer, explaining his conceptual foundations and making his aims explicit. The forum is also offered to creative writers, whose literary projects express the new emergent sensibility which the exhibit displays in the field of visual arts. Thus, a dialogue between visual arts and literature is established. However, the literary texts are not illustrative or descriptive of the artistic work presented in the collection.
Three literary essays have been included in the catalogue, each dealing with the theme of "an image laid out of Latin America for the future". One is from Rafael Argullol (Spain), the others written by Mario Bellatin and Ricardo Piglia (Mexico and Argentina, respectively).
The catalogue will also reproduce the pieces on display. In addition, a key novelty of the catalogue is that it will include texts by each of the participating artists, explaining in general terms the sense behind
their work and their careers. Thus, with great documentary value, The End of the Eclipse catalogue will offer a collection of writings from artists, all of whom form part of the transition.
To synthesize, the theoretical foundation behind the exhibit, the catalogue and the style of presenting the pieces on display is one and the same: the quest to establish a point of inflection, one that is increasingly more necessary when presenting and appreciating the diverse and plural art proceeding from the Latin America. Finally, it should be pointed out that the considerations which have inspired The End of the Eclipse were not a European product, or a vision from the outside; rather, they are the result of an intense amount of research conducted in situ in the field, with a network for consultation and participation from artists, curators and theoreticians from Latin America.
NET ART
- Name of Artist:
Giselle Beiguelman
Country:
Brazil
Title of Piece:
O livro depois do livro/ "Books After Books"
URL
http://www.desvirtual.com/giselle
Year of Production:
1999/2000
Navigation Requirements:
Java Active, Netscape browser or Internet Explorer, versions 4 and above.
Producer/s:
desvirtual.com
Synopsis of the Piece:
"Books After Books" is a hypertextual visual essay on literature, reading and multimedia in the context of Internet. It takes place around a bookshelf whose shelves, which organize cyberliterature sites and web art, are intercepted by intervals of reading and short animations which cause detours and a re-composition of the senses.
Date and Place of Artist’s Birth (abbreviated résumé):
Giselle Beiguelman
Sao Paulo, 1962
Beiguelman is professor of the graduate program in Communications and Semiotics at the PUC-SP University. She received a VITAE grant, based on an award for her project on literature and new communication media (1999). She is member of the ISEA 2000 scientific committee (Paris). Participation in various events and exhibits on web art and digital culture, both in Europe and the U.S.: Net_Condition (ZKM, 1999), Netaphors (MECAD, 2001), and E-Poetry (Buffalo, NY), among others. In 1998 she formed a virtual studio, desvirtual.com (www.desvirtual.com), where she develops her personal projects, such as "Books After Books", <Content=No Cache> and Wopart.
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- Name of Artist:
Arcangel Constantini
Title of Piece:
123456789px
URL
http://www.unosunosyunosceros.com/123456789px.htm
Year of Production:
1999
Navigation Requirements:
Netscape navigator 4 (+) Flash 5
Producer/s:
Unosunosyunosceros
Synopsis of the Piece:
"Works of art in the era of mechanical reproduction"
Human creations are reproductions made by the machine/body, of that occurring in the mind. The time will come when we access, through living experience, the space to share these creations in their purest form, the idea. 123456789px is a piece which is conceptually related to its code. Its length is not based on time, but on space.
"Art in the net 99" Bronze award, Machida City Museum, Tokyo
Date and Place of Artist’s Birth (abbreviated résumé):
Mexico City, 1970.
From 1993 to 1998 he was artistic director and television producer. Participation in the following festivals and exhibits: 222.000, Carrillo Gil Art Museum, Mexico, 2000; DEAF 00, Dutch festival of electronic art, Rotterdam, 2000; Portrait of Memory, Mexico City Museum, 2000; No/E.html, Centro de la Imágen (Imaging Center), Mexico, 2000; Art on the Net Competition, Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, Tokyo, 1999; Net-congestion, Amsterdam, 2000; Absolut L.A. international bakteria.org, Installation in Berman Gallery, L.A., 2001; and Phonic bakteria.org, Installation New Zealand, 2001, among others.
Individual On-line Projects:
http://www.unosunosyunosceros.com/
http://www.bakteria.org
http://www.atari-noise.com
http://www.infomera.net
Collective On-line Projects:
http://www.hell.com
http://www.no-such.com
Awards and Honors:
VID@RTE, video and electronic multimedia art, first prize, 1998. Grant from the National Fund for Culture and Art in New Media, Mexico, 2000. INTERFERENCES, Belfort, France, first prize "atari-noise", 2000, awarded by a panel of professionals. Received grant from Rockefeller Foundation for film/video/and multimedia, 2001.
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- Name of Artist:
Minerva Cuevas
Title of Piece:
Mejor Vida Corp./ "Better Life Corp."
Year of Production:
1999/2001
Web-project (work in progress)
Navigation Requirements:
None specifically
Producer/s:
Minerva Cuevas
Synopsis:
Better Life Corp. (BLC) Is a project focused on independent activism, taking over the structure of a corporation, using the communication media and public speeches to conduct its activities. BLC is the result of the mistrust of capitalist utopias, with subversion as a constant in all of its procedures. Currently, the project has two new areas: "BLCommunications" and "BLCBiotechnology".
Date and Place of Artist’s Birth (abbreviated résumé):
Mexico City, 1975
Since the beginning of her career, Cuevas based her work on the use of video and installations. Currently, her work merges art with social activism through the use of electronic media: video, Internet, radio and print media. Her projects deal with the following themes: corporate identity, economic and social processes, mass media and biotechnology.
Member of the group Irational.org since 1998
http://www.irational.org
http://www.irational.org/minerva/resume.html
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- Name of Artist:
brian_mackern
Title of Piece:
Content-Type:// No-Content: pre_loaders//:
URL
http://no-content.org
Year of Production:
2001
Navigation Requirements:
PC, 128 RAM IE5.5 Flash plugin 5.
Synopsis of Piece (6-9 lines):
Thoughts on content/non-content.
First stage: any randomly selected gallery, preloaders announcing the loading of the site no-content.org.
At the same time, it is aesthetic research into the creation of reactive-interactive objects and random sonorous environments, within the limits implied by working with the minimum bytes possible.
Date and Place of Artist’s Birth (abbreviated résumé):
Montevideo, 1962
Mackern’s work has been exhibited at WDAMA; Rhizome, Artbase; Interfaces, France; ‘Interactiva 01’, Mexico; Carrillo Gil Museum, Mexico. BitBang, Peru; De Ceros y Unos, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Link_Age, Gijón, Spain; MAD, 2001, Madrid, Spain; Zeppelinks, Barcelona, Spain; Per l’altre banda, Barcelona, Spain; Valencia Biennial, Valencia, Spain; Interfaces/Update 2.0, Uruguay; Más Allá del Espejo/ "Beyond the Mirror": Latin America On-line’, ARCO 2001, Madrid, Spain; Armory Show, New York; ‘iii salon on digital art’, Cuba; FILE-guestwork, Brazil; Festival Plaza, San Sebastian, Spain; Engelmann Ost Collection, Montevideo, Uruguay; ‘INNOVA 2000’, Uruguay; Second Conference on Art and Digital Media, Cordoba, Argentina; Rosario Digital 2000, Rosario, Argentina.
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- Name of Artist:
Gustavo Romano
Title of Piece:
Hyperbody
URL
http://www.hyperbody.org
Year of Production:
2000/2001
Web-project (work in progress)
Navigation Requirements:
Internet connection. Recommended browser: Internet Explorer 4 or above.
Producer/s:
Gustavo Romano
Synopsis of Piece (6-9 lines):
The main ideas behind the piece: Through the Internet Gateway, Hyperbody offers an updated list of the websites whose names refer to various parts of the body. On the one hand, the obsession of gateways to classify and categorize all information, and on the other, the need of humans to name, and therefore, fragment, isolate and assign new meanings to the various parts of the body.
Date and Place of Artist’s Birth (abbreviated résumé):
Buenos Aires, 1958
Romano has worked in a variety of media: installations, video, and Internet projects.
His individual exhibits include the following: Museum of Modern Art, Buenos Aires, Argentina; the Ruth Benzacar Gallery, Buenos Aires, Argentina; the ICI, Buenos Aires, Argentina; the Spain Cultural Center of Cordoba, Argentina; Casa de America, Madrid, Spain; Chopo Museum, Mexico; VII Biennial, Havana, Cuba; the first Latin American Biennial, Lima, Peru; and the second Biennial of Mercosur, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
He has received, among other awards, the Argentinean Association of Art Critics "video artist of the year" award, the Leonardo Award, and the First Award at Buenos Aires Video XII, "experimental multimedia".
Romano is one of the directors of Fin de Mundo ("End of the World"), a virtual space which, since 1996, brings together projects developed for Internet by Argentinean artists.
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