Instalacion 01

The following work arises from almost two years of work with the self-portrait, a place where I found a kind of refuge, a place where I allow myself to see myself and show myself vulnerable. The following work reveals the image. What happens when we find ourselves in front of a camera? faced with ourselves?

Technical, aesthetic and conceptual development

This work, briefly described above, proposes putting the body into play, in this case although the artist’s body is also present, it does so in a different way, which is why it focuses more than anything on putting that of the observers into play. In addition to this, the work is inspired by performance artists since in those works the main axis was the body. Although this is not a strictly live work, nor is it intended to be a performance per se, we can highlight the words that Diana Taylor, regarding the art of performance, adds.

“In addition, we must keep in mind that performance, even understood strictly as live art, is always intermediated, the acts function within systems of representation, within which the body is one more mediation, which transmits information and participates in the circulation of images. In this sense it is both the medium and the message.”

On the other hand, we can highlight that the work is an interaction between the artist, the observer and the observer’s own image. When the work is being exhibited and looked at by others, there is a moment when people, after seeing a series of self-portraits of the artist, encounter their own image. It is a decisive moment. The idea is that this happens without the viewer knowing what is going to happen, this moment will be a very brief moment in which the viewer’s image will be frozen and they can then see themselves.

In addition to this, we can point out that the colors chosen for both the self-portraits and the image filter that captures the viewer are Black and White. This was a conscious choice where Francesca Woodman’s photographs were taken as a reference. The idea is to generate a more solemn and dramatic atmosphere.

Furthermore, it can be argued that said work is an installation, since, in the words of Boris Groys, we understand that “the installation transforms the empty and neutral public space into an individual work of art and invites the visitor to experience that space as the holistic and totalizing space of the work of art”.

Finally, I must say that when making and experiencing the encounter with the work, many questions arose.

How real is the image we have of ourselves? What happens to us when faced with the vulnerability of being in front of ourselves? Faced with the constant messages that throughout our lives form an image for us, what do we see when we see ourselves, can we really see ourselves when we see ourselves?

These are nothing more than questions, reflections, which is why in closing we will take the word of Groys, who with respect to the objective of art writes:

“The goal of art, after all, is not to change things (things are changing on their own all the time anyway). The function of art is instead to show, to make visible realities that are generally overlooked.”

Literature

Groys, B. (2014). Política de la instalación. Volverse público. Buenos Aires: Caja Negra, 49-67.

Taylor, D. Performance. Cap 4 Cuales son los antecedentes del arte de performance.