The basis of this project is the materialization in a physical space, such as the “Sala de Arte Joven” (Youth Art Space) of the strength found in relationship dynamics that are experimented within social networking sites and the world wide web version 2.0.
Websites like Facebook, Tuenti, MySpace or YouTube were established as “white pages” with an architecture capable of incorporating user input. The users are the ones who provide the content and, at the same time, others consume and are capable of overwriting, entering and modifying, which generates another value or meaning.
These tools for collaborative knowledge production (whose archetype is Wiki) have a very deep and lasting effect on how culture is produced. And this does not apply only to the Internet world. There is a real revolution in the production model, a profound change in the structure of the modus operandi of a society and its cultural, social and economic dimensions. This change is based on new principles of competence, such as openness, sharing and global action.
Project development
The artists participating in this experiment were Jacobo Castellano, Pablo Grandegraphix, Eltono, Juan López y Nano 4814. They all work with similar format and construction typologies that are in line with site specific artistic interventions. Using a very sculptural language, they are able to provide a formal experience within the gallery space.
On this occasion, the artists act as “webmasters” to steer, coordinate and manage the actions and tasks required for the production of an artistic performance by a collaborative group of users/consumers of culture.
Thus, The “Sala de Arte Joven” (The Youth Art Space) becomes a platform for social participation, in a process by which the users themselves, the “consumers of culture”, have the opportunity to participate in the realization of an artistic product. This occurs through a collaborative social network led by the artists, whose objective is to realize through a global work of art the relationship dynamics of the Internet.
From April to July of this year, work groups will follow each other setting up their installations in a cumulative process. In this way, the material produced by the first group with be the focus of discussion and reflection in the next, thus establishing a dialogue (or meta-dialogue) between all of the participants. This conversation model, which takes the act of production a step further, is the physical representation of the new paradigms found in the web 2.0.
The final result of this participatory process, will be seen during the months of July and August. It will be a “global work of art” which embodies several basic concepts of the co-creative process: collective intelligence, the dissolution of authorship and the democratization of culture.
Thank you for the incredible help I received from the people who worked on this project. More than 20 people participated, and we produced 7 pieces in the gallery:
The first “Script” experiment, Script 1.0, took place at the Spanish Cultural Center in Buenos Aires in April 2010. Script 1.1 was run in the Montana Gallery in Seville in April 2010 as well. With the same idea, I started Script 1.2 for my show in “Sala de Arte Joven 2.0″. The idea was to paint the largest wall in the gallery between all participants. Each collaborator chose a color and painted stripes following precise rules. Thus each individual executed the script while at the same time watched as the mural was “automatically” painted.
A grid was marked on the wall and each person chose the color they wanted. Before beginning to paint, a random process was used to give each person a coordinate for their line (x, y) so they would know their starting point and direction.
Over the course of 7 days, 30 lines were painted in 12 different colors by 12 people.
An important aspect of this exhibition was the possibility (or duty) to reuse the works produced by previous artists. Before me, by a wonderful coincidence, the previous artist Pablo Grandegraphix used one of my preferred materials… confetti! We made a grid on the wall of the upstairs room, I defined the geometric forms that could be used and the rules to be followed and the collaborators prepared the wall with double sided tape.
Returning to the concept of an exhibition I did in Lima in June 2008, (www.eltono.com/interior/astillas) we used the previous artists’ installations to make wood chips. Each person had to follow some simple rules (they could only paint three geometric forms using a maximum of three colors) cutting and painting pieces of wood to create a large interactive piece. It was formed and modified according to the input of each collaborator. Thus with each individual piece a greater piece was built in which no one was able to monitor its progress. Once the exhibition opened to the public, the work continued to be amended by those who visited the space
The idea was to paint the front window with “blanco de España” a substance used to white out windows. The window was painted like a wall where everyone can write on the exterior part with their fingers. As in online social networks, collaborators could write freely in the window/wall and gradually messages from spontaneous passersby in the street were added as well.
When I invited Julio Jara to participate in the exhibition, he quickly proposed an idea to do an intervention with the students in his workshop ”A Ciegas” (a performance workshop for the blind or visually impaired.) They performed on the opening day in the upstairs room. Dressed in white overalls, they explored the space with walking sticks turned into brushes. In this way a map of the space was produced through abstract images.
As a final piece, I reused a wooden sculpture built by Jacobo Castellano inspired in the antique turnstiles found in the cloisters of monasteries. It become a color mixing tool devised entirely from its initial inspiration.
Thanks a lot to: Carmen y Tono (el verdadero), Julio, Ana Paula, Jaime, Clara, Hoffa, Lore, Mónica, Rafa, Rocío, Guillermo, Pablo, Laura, Dani, Sierra, Tere, Bea, Elsa, Parsec, Jesús, Alvaro, Dane, Isra, Rafafans, María, Pepito, Encarna Fernández, Justo Sánchez-Manzano, Ana Isabel Illanes, Emilio Camacho, Eduardo de la Fuente…
