On the edge of the news
Link to the article in A*DESK The clichés associated with photojournalism have long since collapsed. Although this crisis is not new, the reflection that the exhibition we are now discussing is. Traditionally, the mission of photojournalism was to bring us closer to reality, often a distant and conflicting reality. The photojournalist had the task of […]
Reality is out there. About reality and its construction mechanisms
Human beings need to trust in reality, to hold on to it, even if we are aware that we live in non-reality. In other words, what the media calls reality is nothing more than a construction. Two recent exhibitions, the Berlin Biennial and Antifotoperiodismo, at the Virreina Centro de la Imagen, in Barcelona, address the […]
Ariadne’s thread
Link to the article published in A*DESK Museums have long since recovered and studied in depth the works of conceptual artists, but now it is the market that brings them to the forefront, as well as younger artists who quote, reread and research their references. Lawrence Wiener already wrote this in his famous “Declaration of […]
Cosas que a veces no conducen a nada…
Measuring is a way of knowing the magnitude of things, of controlling, of putting things in order. A recent novel by Daniel Kehlmann, The Measurement of the World, takes as its protagonists two historical figures, the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, a supporter of abstraction and logical deduction, and the astronomer Alexander von Humboldt, a naturalist […]
Put an artist in your living room. About Biennale für Lichtkunst Ruhr 2010
Link to the article in A*DESK The Ruhr area in Germany has been transforming its industrial character into a new cultural identity for some time now. The status of cultural capital for the entire area and the first edition of a biennial centred on light are the most recent examples of this process. All cities […]
Test benches. On filmmakers who exhibit in museums and artists who make films
The recent exhibition of Tim Burton at the MoMA in New York, the constant appearance of articles about some films and filmmakers (Haneke, Tarkovski, Kiarostami…) in specialized art magazines and, above all, the way in which some artists insist on offering a cinematic experience in their installations in museums and art centers, demonstrate the absolute […]
Fleeing boredom. About John Baldessari’s “Pure Beauty” at MACBA
Link to the article in A*DESK There are artists who open avenues for thought and discussion. In the case of Baldessari, this inspiring role is also accompanied by a playfully transgressive attitude that is evident in each and (almost) each of the works in the retrospective that the MACBA is dedicating to him these days. […]
Forests and sharks. On top 40 rankings and artists that are difficult to pigeonhole
In recent months, when it seems that all information must be filtered by the crisis and the economy, some newspapers have celebrated the publication of the Spanish version of the book “The 12 Million Dollar Shark” by economist Don Thompson to bring together a series of arguments with which to discredit contemporary art. The book […]
“The cultural environment has been perverted.” Interview with Moritz Küng, director of Canòdrom
Link to the article in A*DESK Until his appointment as the new director of Canòdrom, the Swiss Moritz Küng regularly came and went to Barcelona to begin to define his programme of action and also to familiarise himself with the context and its agents. Responsible for the deSingel exhibition programme in Antwerp since 2003, Küng […]
You are not Alone. Art as a driving force for awareness, action and the fight against AIDS
In 1987, six years after the first cases of AIDS were detected, a group of six American artists and activists created “Silence = Death”, a slogan that aimed to break the taboos surrounding the disease. In twenty years, things have changed a lot. Medical research has advanced spectacularly. However, in many non-Western countries, prevention and […]
