Can you present your work?
In Spanish it’s called Instalacion attentida #6 – Ventilator (2/3 edition costs $15 000 editor’s note). It features a tape running from the audiocassette to the fan and thanks to the wind, this creates a drawing in the air that ends up on the floor.
I like to work on a particular detail that involves me being on site (I need to rewind the tape, press on, and so on…). It’s not just an installation, it’s a performance and my role consists more in handling the lights, the cable, etc… But it’s inside the installation that really matters.
I like to work on a particular detail that involves me being on site (I need to rewind the tape, press on, and so on…). It’s not just an installation, it’s a performance and my role consists more in handling the lights, the cable, etc… But it’s inside the installation that really matters.
Every time I pass the gallery, I see a crowd of people looking at your work. Why do you think people like it?
I like it when people have a connection with the piece. Then they have their own interpretation, their own experience and their own feelings. I don’t want to give it to them on a plate, I want them to feel it.
Why can people relate to your work so easily?
Because it’s “just fair enough”. Too often today, people need the knowledge to appreciate art. I like to work with simple gestures. I don’t hide anything. With my work, people don’t need to read a book about it or to know the song that is played on the tape (Dolente Immagine by Vincenzo Bellini is playing, performed by Cecilia Bartoli, editor’s note). They can just enjoy this Italian Aria, it’s not a problem to make a personal connection.
Why did you choose to work with tape? Does it make you feel nostalgic?
Tapes belong to the so-called “Analog technology”, which are low tech and less trendy. But these are the things I grew up with. I remember making mix tapes for my friends. So I guess its a form of nostalgia indeed. I remember also that I liked to play with machines, observe the movement, the mechanic, everything that was inside.
Kind of like dissecting technology?
Yes exactly! For me, understanding technology is very important, remembering what remains of the human civilization. What does it mean? Technology is our worst attempt to control everything. And it is never ending! I want to stick to humanity.
“Technology is our worst attempt to control everything”
Can you tell me a little more about you now? Where do you come from and where do live now?
I come from Bogota in Colombia. But now I live in Norway. The challenge for me is understanding the world. So even if I am attached to my country, my family, I needed to leave and live somewhere else.
What barriers do you face as artist?
Society and the pressures of society are barriers. I don’t understand the market. What is it to be an artist today? I don’t believe in luxury. And I get tired sometimes of struggling, but I will remain a dreamer.
