Vision of art
1. Choose a work that represents you, describe it in relation to its format and materiality, its relation with time and space, its style and theme; detail its production process.
I choose the performance La Obra Awards, a spin-off of the magazine about contemporary art that I publish. It’s a careful observation of artists (of Mar del Plata), their work and their modus operandi within the art world. I keep a record of the annual activities, and by the end of the year I select the nominees (of course I throw a party to celebrate the event), classified by categories. I also choose the Golden Prize. The ceremony is celebrated in a different venue each year (with the mandatory red carpet). I play the MC. The winners get a statuette and a diploma. The ceremony is recorded on video and captured on photos, which are later uploaded to YouTube and to the magazine’s blog.
2. In general terms, how would you suggest to approach your work?
The interpretation of my work is closely related to my own personality. The way I hesitate when I am producing art, my eclecticism, the way I love being influenced by others… they are all clear signs of the amount of different languages I usually manage. My favorite subject is always the same: myself, Marcelo Merino.
3. In reference to your work and your position in the national and international art fields, what tradition do you recognize yourself in? Who are your contemporary referents? What artists of previous generations are of interest to you?
To answer this question, that burns in my hand like a dagger –since my work and my personal self are in constant hesitation, in an interrupted creative process and can be easily influenced–, I will solve the problem by creating an analogy with soccer. I will think as Alfbio Basile when dealing Argentina’s National Soccer Team. It’s hard to choose who to call: there are good players, great players. But I will propose a 4-4-2 tactical scheme. And the artists I’d call are:
Goalkeeper: Daniel Buren, solid, reliable when defending, a good kick (Abondanzieri style); line of four with Guido Munich: a German player, great runner and marker, very mucho like Negro Ibarra; also on the defense, I choose Martín Kippenberger: he’s wild and tough, he reminds us of Tano Pernía in his best days; the stoppers would be Tomás Maldonado, tidy, with a great presence, just like Field Marshal Perfumo, and Kasimir Malevich, tremendous, like and impenetrable wall, he could even stop bullets, Demichelis style (excuse me, Kasimir); in the midfield, as number five I choose Sascha-Andre Hahn, another German, he can trick you like a spider, and spite his youth he won’t leave you alone not even for a second, just like Macherano; as double five we have Karina Bisch, very creative, very personal and really capable of reading the field, pretty much like Brujita Verón at his best moments; as number eight, a very dynamic player: Merlin Carpenter, bold and a great scorer, he reminds us of JJ López and Beto Alonso together with the orange ball; wearing jersey number ten, I choose Guillermo Kuitca, you all know how hard it is to be wearing Maradona’s jersey and how important this place is in a team; Kuitca is a creative player, relaxed, with a great timing for team playing, in charge of shooting penalties, and, of course, choosing him is always a controversial decision (just like Riquelme); the forward line is very brithish, we have Julian Opie, a clear player, with goal skills, capable of creating spaces, fast, similar to Rodrigo Palacios; as number nine, Demian Hirst, one of the most expensive players in the team, synonym for goal, just by having him on the team, the defenders of the other team can’t score, he is our Titi Henry.
4. Choose works or exhibitions from the last ten or fifteen years which in your opinion were very significant and explain why
Grippo at Malba: How come it wasn’t my idea?
Sol Lewitt at Proa: Tremendous.
Forma pura at Motp: So clear.
Roveda at Baltar: It can’t be wrong.
Merino at Auditórium: Yes, it was perfect.
5. What tendencies or groupings from common elements do you see in argentine art of the last ten or fifteen years?
This groups, very typical of today’s globalization, make me think about the benefits of a variety of projects and esthetic tendencies. I am glad to receive every prevailing language without judging them. My claim is that we are all united by a tendency called Pop. That’s our common stock, since the Paleolithic age, when men depicted his surroundings in a naturalistic way. It started with the illustration of the mammoth (a consumer good), and it continues until today with every imaginable object.
After all, the only thing that remains is Matisse…
