Of Bridges & Borders, Phase I - Fundación Proa, Buenos Aires
From 22 January – end of March 2011
Opening: January 22nd
Of Bridges & Borders is a cultural multidisciplinary cross-border project that emerged from a book produced and edited in October 2009, which brought together and revealed the position and way of seeing of musicians, architects and thinkers from 17 countries.
In Buenos Aires it was presented in 5 phases, including exhibitions, concerts, performances and interventions in public space that were presented in several neighborhoods of the city of Buenos Aires between January and December.
Phase I of “Of Bridges & Borders” began on January 22nd with an exhibition at Fundación PROA in which eight local and international visual artists from the same generation created works that were in dialogue with each other. The textures and formats that each artist used in this project were universal, achieving a visual journey that went from minimalism to chaotic art with contents and themes approached from a formal, political or aesthetic point of view. With different visions and vocabularies, they faced the same problem: that of globalization, a fundamental issue of contemporary symbolic concerns.
The project not only built evident bridges between the works and the artists, but also clearly delimited the frontiers that circumscribe the tendencies of current art, its vocabularies and conflicts.
Of Bridge & Borders then emerged as a process of producing works specifically designed for Fundación Proa’s spaces and for its socio-political and geographical context. The artists were invited to produce special pieces that, in most cases, responded to the characteristics of the institution.
In the selection of this first phase, three Swiss artists participated –Thomas Hirschhorn, Fabrice Gygi and L/B- an Italian/swiss artist –Gianni Motti-; a Spanish artist –Josep-María Martín-; a Cuban artist –Carlos Gariacoa– a German artist –John Bock– and, finally, an Argentinean artist –Jorge Macchi-.
The project was supported by: Pro Helvetia – Swiss Art Council, the AVINA Foundation, the Mexican and Swiss embassies in Buenos Aires, Techint, Tenaris, and Zitrus Lab.
Info about the artists
Jorge Macchi – https://www.jorgemacchi.com
Carlos Garaicoa –http://www.carlosgaraicoa.com
Fabrice Gygi- https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabrice_Gygi
Josep-María Martín – https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josep-Maria_Martin
John Bock – https://www.antonkerngallery.com/artists/john_bock
Thomas Hirschhorn – http://www.thomashirschhorn.com/whats-on/
Gianni Motti – https://www.perrotin.com/artists/Gianni_Motti/146#images
Lang/Baumann – http://langbaumann.com
About “Of Bridges & Borders”
Of Bridges & Borders is a cross-border multidisciplinary cultural project. Like certain plays and films, its origin lies in a book that was produced and published in October 2009.
In that publication, visual artists, musicians, architects and thinkers from seventeen countries presented a wide range of positions and artistic visions.
In 2011 in Buenos Aires, Of Bridges & Borders entailed a series of exhibitions, urban interventions, concerts and lectures whose formats range from installations, video art, film, architecture, music and performances. The underlying interest is to provoke new forms of reading through proximity, difference, comparison and contradiction in the cultural sphere.
Phase II “Beautiful Bridge, # 1” was a colorful and geometrical painted intervention by the Swiss artists Lang/Baumann that took place under the pedestrian bridge of the faculty of located on Figueroa Alcorta Avenue. A public art piece that remained and later became emblematic for the city.
Phase III “Fronteras en Mutación” took place at the CCEBA (Spanish Cultural Center) in its San Telmo neighborhood (former Padelai) and Paraná street headquarters, with an international exhibition that brought together a selection of 16 outstanding national and international artists who created site specific projects.
These artists from different backgrounds and generations employed an array of vocabularies in their varied visions of globalization, an issue that has become increasingly important in recent years.
This third phase of the project focused on the morphology of borders, not only from a geographical perspective, but also from a poetic and aesthetic point of view. It attempts to offer the public the experience of a ceaselessly connected world, where borders have become both virtual and political, invisible but latent.
Phase IV “Lluvia de arañas sobre el Riachuelo” a strong visual open-air opera which took place on and around the Boca bridge for the Night of the Museums, with the participation of three groups of musicians from different backgrounds, mixing opera, electronics, jazz, minimal and experimental music.
Phase V presented “From Real to Surreal” at the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Buenos Aires (MAMBA) where works by the English, Lliam Gillick, the Belgian, Hans Op de Beeck, the Chinese, Yung Shun and the German, Carsten Nicolai, were installed, specially designed for the exhibition room.
