Ausencia

Proposal for a Residency in Epecuèn, Argentina
Not fulfilled due to financial reasons
*The photos of the site that are used as a base to show my proposal in sketches, are property of the organizers of Residencia Epecuèn.

The concept I explore is the Ephemeral and from there, the Absence. These two issues are directly related to memory. The ephemeral becomes a memory and mobilizes the feeling of absence. Epecuén, a city in ruins, is a place where something existed and now only its remains remain, and a strong sensation of death. The ruin is the engine of memory and the testimony of the past of the place. Water, which is the element that ensures life, here becomes a weapon of death and decomposition. "A dead city." Yes, there are still residents, but now they are no longer human. They are the organisms of the water. They have a different scale, different needs, and use the space in their own way.
The ability of water to reflect is something I would like to use. On the one hand, because the reflection is an image without physical substance, on the other hand as a reference to the myth of Narcissus. Narcissus adored himself and looked at an unreal idol, reflected in the lake, until he drowned in the very waters that taught him what he admired. Human beings build cities thinking they are invincible, but nature is stronger. The reflection seems to me somehow related to the shadow, which is also the projection not of the object, but of its outline onto another object or surface.
The idea that I would like to explore is an on-site installation, the documentation of which can be presented in an exhibition. I will choose materials that are in place, but bear signs of flooding and destruction. They can be construction materials, everyday life objects, mud, dead plants. The object, like the ruin, carries within itself elements that show its history. Objects will change position, and will either try to find themselves in the position they were in before, when the city was alive, or be in conflict, or in relation to other objects. This will happen by hanging them, or touching them, or turning them over, or relating one to the shadow or reflection of the other. The aim is to create a new image of the city, either by animating what has collapsed or by creating movement, through the sway, flow, shadow or reflection of different objects. I also found interesting the idea of ​​a floating vegetation as a living being that travels on the water, being in opposition to the death of the trees on the site.
I detect three sensations related to water, which are related to the senses of the human body, and can be used: the swaying when something floats and the humidity (touch), the reflection (sight) and the sound of flowing (hearing).
Tie raps, rope, nails, plaster putty will be used to connect or hang objects, paper, charcoal, Chinese ink. The sculpture and the photographs will be accompanied by sketches and drawings in situ, in Chinese ink, pencils, charcoal or some element found at the site, in which the dilution with water - which will come from the site - will have the meaning of capturing the humidity of the place.