Exposición “TOURiSTE or not TOURiSTE”
Casa Consolat, Marseille.
An art exhibition by Fábrika studio – from September 21 to October 04 2017
Valparaíso is a spontaneous, creative, chaotic, declared world heritage, poor, generous, unexpected city that is home to a large industrial port and numerous hills.
Many people say that this city ´sucks you in´ and that it´s hard to leave. Others just pass through, wanting to find some ¨buena onda,¨ sometimes without understanding the true reality of the place. The consecutive restorations and reconstructions put in motion by UNESCO, the constant arrival of temporary inhabitants, the industrialization of the harbour and the imported innovations according to western criteria all contribute to the modification of lifestyles and above all the displacement of the local community to other neighborhoods. Seeing how its universe is being transformed into a tourist destination, as a consequence it ends up as a product within a travel catalogue. If tourism contributes to the economy, where are the limits of reality and how can the identity of the places be preserved when confronted with the transformations being generated?
What’s happening with Marseille?
If we make the effort to let ourselves go, pull back the curtains, we begin to discover a different reality. Here we can find the emotional stairway characteristic of our port. As spectators of the changes, the necessity to immortalize the popular identity in order to reflect a true image of Valparaíso is the launching point for the Fábrika studio. To be in the right place, maybe not the first time, but in the moment to spontaneously feel what should be photographed. The film roll can remain dormant for months until the original colors are forgotten, but once developed the eye can return to the setting, the moment, the feeling. Which image, which colors, which feeling? The personal vision that we can have of the city mixes with the raw materials, the techniques, the layers, the gestures, the tools and our character to finally create the artwork.
Technical data:
·16 screen printed artworks on paper and one gum bichromate print on canvas, some pieces framed by recycled materials from Marseille, varying formats: 36×36 cm, 51×35 cm 55×55 cm, 85×55 cm.
·Installation: ¨Workspace¨ wooden table, tools and materials, 2 cords strung to hang and dry the screen prints (in situ production of the piece ¨Dreaming of the Téléscaphe¨) and sound installation.
·Wall of ¨Golconda Pelican¨ wallpaper presenting the exhibition of raw materials, tools, and stages of creation as components of the artwork.
·2 sound installations: one beneath the work table with sounds of the workshop, the other in cage hanging in a corner of the room with sounds from Echaurren Plaza (Valparaíso).
·¨Aesthetic Contradiction¨ video: nighttime images of the port in movement, questioning the beauty and ugliness of the port activity. Link to video.
· ¨Underwater Tourism¨ video by INA, archival images of the Téléscaphe. Link to video.
TOURiSTE or not TOURiSTE
21.09.2017 – 04.10.2017
Casa Consolat – 1 rue Consolat, Marseille
http://www.casaconsolat.org
