Constellations, a place of no return, 2014
My proposal intends to reconcile visual practices, such as video and photography with the notion of mapping/belonging/being afar to a place that is currently a war -like zone: Venezuela. Part of this investigation departs from my earlier work Constellation, Los Perros de Caza, 2005 (Constellation, Hunt dogs) (2006) in which I photographed the back of my stepmother a week after being attacked by the government military with military BB guns, because she was protesting against Hugo Chavez’ regime in a demonstration. I counted more than 65 shots in her back. I established this idea of trying (impossibly) to understand facts like humane violence by “constellating” the imaginary lines made by the bullet marks, as the Greeks did with the stars, in an attempt of grasping the unknown; and aside, researching on the physical characteristics of the actual bullets and their performance on surfaces. In Venezuela, contemporary life gears towards fear, the un-ruled, extreme violence, fake promises and food scarcity. This happening today is an undeniable and sad consequence of fifty years of terrible governments, yet nothing as bad as the past 15 years to present times, where a severe dictatorship is being consolidated as I write. Since February, more than 800 students have been taken to jail by the government, repressed, hit, raped, brutally violating basic Human Right codes. Project A photography and video installation of variable dimensions. A visual installation conceived in verb tenses or how to negotiate with nostalgia, fear, impotence and anger from afar. To envision and understand notions of a conflict through personal thoughts and images as well as appropriated texts and visuals. • Photographs that connect my body to my origins (PAST) • A phone that will ring (sound installation) (FUTURE) • A time-lapse video of a highway that is (was) a promise. The longing for what should have been. (FUTURE IMPERFECT) • Bullets residues over Francisco de Miranda avenue (PRESENT) • A bucket full of tears (PRESENT) • Compilation of images and phrases excerpted s from Facebook and Twitter post from friends and relatives (PRESENT CONTINUOUS)
