Through this project, the organizers launched an invitation for the interested public to reflect on the idea of interaction, its influence on perception and to take part in a series of “digital experiments, discovering the relationship between image and sound, digital and real, concrete and abstract, human and machine ”, as they pointed out. 

The questions that the exhibition addressed to the audience were about "What does it mean to be human?", "How are the senses connected?" and "What is the boundary between human and machine?".

You can watch some short videos here -- https://www.facebook.com/centruldeinteres/videos/klaus-obermaier-%C8%99i-studen%C8%9Bi-ai-masterului-digital-interactive-arts-din-cadrul-fa/718849606136411/?__so__=permalink&__rv__=related_videos

And here --

https://www.facebook.com/centruldeinteres/videos/1070638126857076/?__cft__[0]=AZW9MyEV2XRdE5RL0Zk-M8HxzDHY-Z6Dp9EUgByRRm-UTZB3ZnVqkKuKBDAIqdodle7PXrWtn0gBZ4JXZRB_PCk7iAyMghJB6ZM6a0tFozWDJmNfAHzak8nO19tV6RwktXnPk_6DuCukZeIYBnM0YslzHLlQ59jnovLNcT_MXGgtsNg_vwDLe4M_hQqwlauSbuw&__tn__=%2B%3FFH-R

“Holiday Space” by KAWS

Acclaimed by tourism, La Boca preserves the emblematic tin dwellings built in the 19th century when Italian immigrants arrived in Buenos Aires. In the exhibition, past, present and future come together in this experimental proposal. Through interactive, immersive, and sound works, the exhibition tries to expand the sensorial limits to the point of questioning the notion of the tangible and immerses us in a fictitious world that can only be accessed digitally.

The monumental spider by Argentinean artist Tomás Saraceno, which moves abruptly and can dance, is one of the most outstanding works. The incredible arthropod is part of a series of ecological works by the artist that seeks to show different species without hierarchies.

Work of the "Webs of Life" series by Tomás Saraceno

"Lune" by Julie Curtis

Over the Riachuelo floats KAWS' most iconic figure, baptized Companion, a sort of Mickey with deformed ears and his face covered by his hands, "beaten down by the consumer society". The piece is titled “Holiday Space” and is a silver astronaut version of the highly recognizable character the artist created 20 years ago based on his original graffiti and cartoons. Companion is placed in close proximity to Julie Curtiss' "Lune" which depicts a nude woman who always has her back to the viewer, and if someone approaches, she vanishes.

Works by Nina Chanel Abney, Koo Jeong A, and Lu Yang have recently been added. Abney combines abstraction with representation to capture the frenetic pace of contemporary life in her work "Imaginary Friend": a giant avatar of a black Christ on the façade of the museum. Meanwhile, Jeong A presented "Density," a 3D work of an ice cube that reflects and refracts the environment wherever it is placed.

Finally, Chinese artist Lu Yang, whose practice is deeply immersed in the subcultures of anime, video games, and science fiction, brings to life her digital avatar, "DOKU", which takes over the physical world in the form of a giant, dancing superhero covered in tattoos.

The exhibition has brought a lot of new visitors to the museum. But it is not only a playful and sensory experience, "A panorama of this world" brings together public space, technology, and contemporary art at a very early stage of the discipline.

Artists: KAWS

The new exhibition of Carolina Acosta (Eug), is part of the Residency Project La Pajarera, of the visual arts degree at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Ecuador. This residency took place from November 2021 to March 2022. It’s one of the permanent programs of the Parterre Gallery, which seeks to establish a dynamic space for creation that dialogues with the pedagogical processes linked to the arts. This exhibition is the final product of the residency.

Based in Paris for 30 years, Martín Reyna began his artistic career in the 80s under the current of abstract expressionism. That is why when we see his works we can recognize the influence of artists such as Jackson Pollock or Lee Krasner. However, Reyna's paintings are composed of more subtle and harmonious strokes, inspired by the landscapes of nature. But these are not works of a documentary nature; rather, the artist intends to capture the sensations and emotions that those landscapes provoke in him.

Reyna's art is characterized by his spirit of experimentation. Currently, his works are composed of minimal elements that flow looking for autonomous paths in their journey across the surface. In fact, the artist almost does not intervene in his works; he lets the fluidity of water act on light, space, and color. There is a factor of freedom that can be transmitted to his viewers. That lack of control over nature makes a strong statement. At a time when humans strive to control their environment despite the damage they generate, to visit this exhibition is to be carried away by the forces of nature even while inside a building in the middle of the city of Buenos Aires.

The artist's goal was to illustrate human nature in three dimensions through these sculptural works and to offer a new perspective on sculpture itself. Then the kind of material she uses for that, in a way, speaks about fragility and transience.

In the next room, traditional games and toys take on a nostalgic, critical, and ironic character. Works such as Dino Bruzzone's “Italpark”, Silvio Fischbein's “Urban fragments”, and Juan Pablo Cambariere's mobiles emphasize the mechanics of toys, while Matilde Marin's photographic series “Play of hands” recovers the artisanal and ritualistic link of play. Also on display in this room are legendary Argentine artists such as Antonio Berni, with his representation of humble neighborhoods; Edgardo Antonio Vigo and his proletarian chess; and Xul Solar and the I Ching Board, a game of chance created with a language invented by the artist.

From the "Urban" series (2009) by Silvio Fischbein

"Proletarian Chess" by Edgardo Antonio Vigo (1983-1987)

"Juanito playing bowling balls", by Antonio Berni (1973)

"I Ching Board" by Xul Solar (1954)

In Room 3, there is a crossover between games and sports as well. Among the works, the video installation "The Tennis Match" by Margarita Paksa stands out, which uses the competitive dynamics of sports ("you are a winner", "you are a loser") as a metaphor for social and economic competition. Only in Room 4 can we find interactive installations that require the viewer's active participation, which dialogue with the technology of the contemporary world, such as the representation in video games. For example, "I remember you" by Leo Nuñez consists of a typewriter that, when used, reproduces what is written on a curtain of lights hanging on the wall. In Laura Palavecino's “Bambi-Bot” installation, children can approach and move a robotic deer by hitting the keys of a xylophone.

"Bambi-Bot” by Laura Palavecino

 

"I remember you" by Leo Nuñez (2016)

"Art in Play” offers an unusual look at the quantity and variety of historical and contemporary productions that highlight the value of playfulness as a tool for creation and reflection. The exhibition brings together games and iconic spaces from different periods that not only appeal to the collective memory of the spectator but also allow to recall of personal and non-transferable experiences. This experience is intensified through sound references, such as circus music, the xylophone, and wind-up toys.

The fifteenth edition of the Cuenca Biennial presents for the first time a sustainable edition project, through the curatorial thesis of "Biocene Biennial. Changing green for blue", by Spanish art curator Blanca de la Torre.

Sometimes the ocean vasculates between the leaves (2021) by Juan Zamora

Founded in 1986, the Cuenca Biennial is the longest-running Latin American biennial after Sao Paulo and Havana. At the beginning it was only a painting Biennial, however, with the changes that the art world has undergone, since its 6th edition it has been open to all artistic languages.

Plant records (2021) by Ana Teresa Barboza

The curatorial concept of this edition comes from Blanca de la Torre's previous research. The Biocene is a concept she has developed previously, proposing it as a replacement for the Anthropocene, a term criticized for eluding the political, economic and colonial implications of the ecological deterioration of the planet. In this way, Blanca calls for the beginning of a new era that finally places life at the center.

Rivers of people (2021) by Regina José Galindo

On the other hand, the idea of "Changing green for blue" refers to the term greenwashing, which is used to allude to the bad practices that some corporations or organizations use to falsely present a product as environmentally friendly. Therefore, a change of colors is proposed for the construction of a new narrative, which visualizes all the problems related to the environmental crisis and not only those that large companies want to use in their favor.

Routine flight (2016 - 2021) by Juana Cordova

I consider that this is a low-risk curatorial concept, that assures you that you cannot fail. It deals with real problems we are facing every day, which became even more evident after the pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus. Thus, the XV Cuenca Biennial proposes a sustainable biennial that contributes new approaches to the construction of another possible world. In this way, it was decided to develop along three conceptual axes: ancestral and traditional knowledge, critical ecofeminism and futuristic scenarios.

Concert for Biocene (2021) by Eugenio Ampudia

This curatorial approach is not very risky for several reasons, among them, the fact that it has been widely used in the art world, however, there is still a need for these issues to be worked from this field, and, that's why the final result of the Biennial was very positive. Although it may have felt a bit repetitive, this Biennial had wonderful artworks that involved fundamental and complex research processes.

The thought of plants. Chapter 2 -When he woke up, the dinosaur was no longer there (2018-in progress) by Paúl Rosero

The Biennial featured works by 34 visual artists from different parts of the world. The awarded artists were: Fabano Kueva from Ecuador, Tania Candiani from Mexico and Cristina Lucas from Spain, with the first, second and third prizes, respectively. The honorable mentions, on the other hand, were awarded to the Mexican artist Amor Muñoz and the Swiss artist Ursula Biemann. Finally, Pamela Cevallos from Ecuador was awarded the Paris Prize.

Return currents (2021) by Pamela Cevallos

Fabiano Kueva presented his work "Geopoetic essay Alexander von Humboldt 2011-2021", which represents an artistic-historical investigation of around 10 years, where he inquiries about the travel books that Humboldt made at the beginning of the 19th century. The research goes beyond the type of writing and the images present in these diaries. Kueva decides to revive Humboldt's travels, following in the footsteps that the scientist took centuries ago. This is how he begins to replicate travel techniques, draw maps, make measurements and create an herbarium of the places visited.

Thus, Fabiano Kueva highlights the way in which the imperial gaze interprets our colonial societies, and how universalist knowledge takes local knowledge and cultural objects for itself. The work is constituted by a collection of materials articulated from an archival modality, it questions the attributes of truth, memory, fidelity that the official institutions and the cultural market attribute to themselves. This collection aims to reverse the sign of dispossession and the symbolic control over the American past by activating the archives of the present.

For her part, the Mexican artist Tania Candiani creates a work specifically for this Biennial, called "Harps of Water". Thanks to the collaboration of a Cuencan luthier, she presents four stringed musical instruments, which translate the line of the four rivers that pass through Cuenca city: Tarqui, Yanuncay, Machángara and Tomebamba. Four embroidered pieces that accompany the instruments are also born from the same concept.

Harps of water (2021) by Tania Candiani

In this way, Candiani addresses issues such as artisanal and industrial processes, the rescue of ancestral techniques, and the materiality and visualization of sound, while also presenting a tribute to the rivers of the area.

The people that is missing (2021) by Cristina Lucas. Image: Fundación Municipal Bienal de Cuenca

Finally, Cristina Lucas took third place with her work “The People that Is Missing”, a name that comes from an original quote by the Swiss artist Paul Klee and underlined by Deleuze and Guattari to affirm that the purpose of art is to create “the people missing, a future collectivity yet to come, endowed with genuine cohesion and functionality”.

Lucas creates a poem composed of phrases from very diverse authors, among which we can find Karl Marx, Gilles Deleuze, Donald Trump, Claude Lévi-Strauss, etc. This poem is narrated in a shocking video recorded in the Svalbard archipelago, the northernmost place on earth, which is currently in Norway and has become a geo-strategic place that is constantly threatened by climate change.

Fragment of the video recorder in Svalbard.

Cristina Lucas's installation consists of a room, filled with charcoal and bathed in infrared and ultraviolet lights (which is the range of human vision). The powerful video playing in the background, and the poem written on the wall. All this manages to immerse the viewer in a posthumanist environment that forces you to think about the possibility of a postfossil era.

In conclusion, the Cuenca Biennial left a series of important reflections, around the environmental crisis, which force us to rethink our place as spectators. There were some criticisms about the lack of actions of the Biennial within the city and its lack of openness to an expansion of the public. Beyond that and the simplicity of the curatorial concept, the 15th Cuenca Biennial was very coherent, impressive and surprising, for which it continues to be a fundamental art space on a global level.