context
Resistance exercises: absorption was the first mural I made using paper napkins colored by hand. This project arose from the need to respond effectively to the Project of a Boundary, unfold exhibition, which took place at the Fuller Museum in Boston, MA. My aim was focused in my interest to continue using the building strategies I implemented in Overvigilance: essentially, the possibility to put together in the same mural piece, an image of photographic origin and the use of a limited color palette. However, it seemed hard to think in transporting a large-scale work composed of hundreds of natural thistles, not only because of the high cost of shipping and insurance involved, but also because of the difficulties in shipping organic material from one country to another.
Then, it was necessary to find an object-module that could be equally efficient in building a monumental image, of a ordinary source, and that would allow me unfold the work on the wall, avoiding the aforementioned drawbacks. So, on a visit to the Central Vega I found the answer, since along with the decision to work with the old and scruffy popular-kitchens –small restaurants commonly called Soda Fountains– I thought the paper napkins commonly used in this restaurants could be the element that I was needing. Hundreds of paper napkins colored with pencils were easily transported in small paper envelopes, and were installed covering an area of nearly 27 square meters. Finally, the image of this kitchen cluttered with old pots, stacked one above the other, which, in the context of an international exhibition, was installed as a natural extension of the private space of my house.
exhibited in
Project of a Boundary, unfold
02 February - 02 April 2002