Professional Documents
Culture Documents
MACBA. La Realidad Invocable PDF
MACBA. La Realidad Invocable PDF
invocable
4 presentaci
Bartomeu Mar
16 sobre el real
Clment Rosset
20 la realitat invocable
Lutz Mommartz
John Smith
Jeremy Deller
Rafel G. Bianchi
Phil Collins
Enric Farrs-Duran
Nria Gell
Roman Ondk
Mireia Sallars
Jill Magid
Antonio Ortega
60 textos en castellano
78 english texts
Bartomeu Mar
Director del Museu dArt Contemporani de Barcelona (macba)
4 presentaci
Mantenim una relaci complicada amb la realitat. Volem creure que apropant-
nos al real sentirem millor que estem vius, per moltes vegades la realitat pot ser
massa atro. No s estrany, doncs, que ens hi enfrontem a travs de disfresses i
illusions. Vivim a ms en un moment en qu els mitjans de comunicaci de masses
ja sencarreguen dasserenar-nos construint una realitat ms assimilable. Per, va
ser sempre aix? El segle xx, com assenyala Alain Badiou a lassaig Le Sicle (2005),
comena quan es distingeix la relaci entre lideal i la seva realitzaci: El segle xx
compleix les promeses del segle xix. El segle xx realitza all que va pensar el segle xix.
[...] En termes lacanians, aix es pot dir de dues maneres: o b que el segle xx s el
real dall que fou limaginari al segle xix, o b que s el real del que fou el simblic
al segle xix. 1 I proposa una cosa que continua sent vlida avui dia: El segle xix
va anunciar, somiar, prometre; el segle xx, per la seva banda, va declarar que ell
feia, aqu i ara. Aix s el que proposo anomenar la passi del real, convenut que
cal fer-ne la clau de tota comprensi del segle.2
Per, de qu parlem quan parlem de realitat o del real? De totes les maneres
possibles daproximar-nos al real, dues mereixen la nostra atenci. La primera s
la noci del desert del real, que a travs de Slavoj izek i de la pellcula Matrix
2. Ibd., p. 52.
remet en ltim terme a Jean Baudrillard,3 el qual pren com a base una faula de
Borges4 en qu uns cartgrafs tracen un mapa a la mateixa escala dall que s
representat, per afirmar que aquesta s una faula caduca per a nosaltres i noms
guarda lencant discret dels simulacres de segon ordre. [...] El territori ja no
precedeix el mapa ni el sobreviu. En endavant ser el mapa el que precedeixi el
territori i el que lengendri. [...] Sn els vestigis del real, no els del mapa, els que
encara subsisteixen escampats per uns deserts que no sn els de lImperi, sin el
nostre desert. El propi desert del real.5 7
3. Bienvenidos al desierto de lo real s el ttol dun llibre de Slavoj izek que fa referncia a una frase del
personatge de Morfeo a la pellcula Matrix (1999) dels germans Wachowski. La cita prov alhora de
lassaig de Jean Baudrillard La prcession des simulacres (1978), recollit en castell en el llibre Cultura
y simulacro (1978).
7. Ibd., p. 21.
8. Com assenyala el mateix Rosset, si no es vol el real, s preferible, en efecte, mirar cap a una altra banda,
per all mai no es trobar una altra cosa que no sigui el que buscava en realitat: s a dir, precisament res
(Lcole du rel. Pars: Les ditions de Minuit, 2008, p. 96).
La via que, segons el seu parer, permetria aproximar-se millor a aquesta realitat
cruel s, paradoxalment, lalegria, que suposa en si mateixa un coneixement del
real: Lalegria implica un saber trgic, per no shi confon. Ella no coneix el trgic
ms que en la mesura que coneix el real en general, del qual el trgic ns noms
una qualitat entre daltres. Es definiria, doncs, ms justament, en espera duna
millor aproximaci, com a saber del real.9
El mirall negre del ttol s la pantalla de tots els aparells que utilitzem diriament
(televisor, ordinador, tauleta, telfon intelligent). Els episodis de la srie tenen en
com un cert regust de tecnoparanoia, per en el fons es limiten a extrapolar
unes tendncies ja manifestes en lactualitat: el registre i la duplicaci futura de
totes les nostres activitats i experincies; la participaci en programes de televisi
com a forma de sentir-se salvats; el lideratge poltic encarnat en un personatge
totalment artificial
9. Clment Rosset: El objeto singular (1979). Madrid: Sexto Piso, 2007, p. 122.
I sorgeixen les preguntes: Existeix una realitat al marge de la nostra prpia percepci?
Implica lafirmaci del real tant la vida com la mort? s potser la violncia extrema
el preu que cal pagar per revelar algunes capes de realitat? s tal vegada el real
lexperincia personal quotidiana o potser la realitat sn els altres? s possible
representar veritables tranches de vie? Qu s lautenticitat? Quin paper representen
lart i la cultura en tot aix? Pot tenir lart una incidncia en la realitat?
* * *
Lexposici sinicia amb dos treballs dels anys setanta. Les pellcules dures i sense
concessions de lutz mommartz (Erkelenz, Alemanya, 1934) estan carregades duna
forta tensi emocional. Per al documental dramtic Als wrs von Beckett [Com si
fos de Beckett] (1976), el director va demanar als seus amics Ila Goldstern i Gnter
Wolf, que feia ms de vint anys que eren casats i que vivien un moment especialment
crtic en la seva relaci, que no es veiessin durant dues setmanes i que desprs es
tornessin a reunir davant la cmera. El retrobament s un intercanvi teatralitzat
i cruel de retrets i acusacions, lamentacions i frustracions. Malgrat que la parella
protagonista va considerar lexperincia cinematogrfica com una mena de terpia,
ambds van comprendre desprs del rodatge que separar-se era lnica soluci.
El vdeo The Girl Chewing Gum [La noia que mastega xiclet] (1976) de john smith
(Londres, 1952), mostra una escena que t lloc en un bullicis carrer londinenc. Se
sent una veu en off que dirigeix no solament els moviments de cmera, sin tamb
les accions de les diferents persones que van apareixent en pantalla: Mou el triler
cap a lesquerra I vull la nena corrent, ara Ara vull que lanci de cabells blancs i
amb ulleres travessi el carrer. Au, vinga, de pressa Mira i ara surt per lesquerra
Noms als minuts finals la descoordinaci entre lacci i les instruccions revela que
la veu en off no dirigeix les anades i vingudes dels personatges; lescena simplement
est filmada al carrer i noms constata la inutilitat de qualsevol intent de direcci
de la realitat.
Fa temps que antonio ortega (Sant Celoni, Barcelona, 1968) investiga els conceptes
de demaggia i propaganda. Com va illustrar la seva acci Hens in the Park [Gallines
al parc] (2000-2001), un acte demaggic pot ser la intervenci en un context
determinat justificada per una actitud inicial a favor del dbil, tot i que acaba
convertint-se en un argument incongruent. En aquella ocasi va ser la posada en
llibertat de gallines per diferents parcs de Londres, allegant el desig de tornar-les
a un estat lliure per sense tenir en compte la seva indefensi davant del fred i
els depredadors ni la seva incapacitat per alimentar-se soles. El 2011, Ortega es
trobava en vaga dartista seguint la invitaci a declarar-se inactiu durant tres anys
que havia fet el 1977 Gustav Metzger, un artista i activista conegut per les seves
actituds combatives respecte de lart i la poltica i a qui Ortega admira. Quan la
seva galeria de Viena, Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman, li va demanar una obra indita
per a una fira dart, Ortega no estava en condicions de fer un treball nou, tot i que
tampoc no shi va voler negar. Va recuperar la imatge dun scol registrada a latzar
en un carret fotogrfic antic, i a partir dun parell de cpies positivades a una mida
menor (el 5%), va crear lobra titulada Gustav Metzger 5%. La proposta dOrtega per
a aquesta exposici, Scol Antonio Ortega. Un intent de glossar el concepte de demaggia
(2013-2014), continua en certa manera el sentit daquell treball en installar a la
sala un scol de 9 cm dalt, mida lleugerament superior a lestndard. Aquesta
mnima modificaci i aquest gest senzill introdueixen un element funcional a
l'espai, i alhora li confereixen una realitat diferent de lhabitual.
nria gell (Vidreres, Girona, 1981) cerca que el seu treball tingui incidncia
efectiva en la realitat social i per aconseguir-ho dissenya projectes dactuaci sobre
situacions concretes dinjustcia derivades duna aplicaci abusiva de les lleis. La
incursi al museu s noms una part dalguna cosa ms que es desenvolupa fora de 11
la instituci. A Negre sobre blanc (2014) Gell proposa una espcie de prototipus
dactuaci sobre una problemtica concreta: la situaci dels immigrants sense
sostre que fins ara havien viscut de la recollecci de ferralla installats en unes
naus industrials del barri barcelon del Poblenou, i que lestiu del 2013 en van ser
desallotjats envoltats dun enorme dispositiu policial. Tot i que la Generalitat i
lAjuntament van acceptar reallotjar-los, el comproms encara no sha complert.
Amb la complicitat dels desallotjats, Gell ha creat el marc legal de la Cooperativa
Ca lfrica, el consell rector de la qual est format per persones procedents de
territoris on els negrers catalans i espanyols buscaven m dobra esclava per a les
seves colnies. El rgim cooperatiu s una eina que permet generar contractes de
treball per als seus membres i daquesta manera legalitzar aquelles persones que
la llei destrangeria illegalitza. El macba ha estat el primer client de lorganitzaci
en donar feina a algunes delles en el marc daquesta exposici. La cooperativa
podr continuar funcionant de manera autnoma desprs daquesta experincia.
Altres artistes inclosos a lexposici opten per captar la realitat filmant-la en directe.
Sn els casos de Jeremy Deller, Mireia Sallars i Phil Collins, els quals presenten
diferents testimonis de biografies personals. A So Many Ways to Hurt You (The Life
and Times of Adrian Street) [Tantes maneres de fer-te mal (Vida i poca dAdrian
Street)] (2010), jeremy deller (Londres, 1966) documenta la vida dAdrian Street,
fill dun miner galls i fascinat pel culturisme, a qui el seu pare i la seva comunitat
van ridiculitzar i que va acabar fent carrera als anys seixanta i setanta com a lluitador
professional, amb aparicions estellars en programes de televisi. El mateix Adrian
Street narra les seves vivncies i inicia el seu relat recitant un poema: Podria ser una
tulipa, podria ser un home / lnica manera de saber-ho s agafar-me si pots / pots
suposar el que vulguis, per sc un dol transvestit amb un nas trencat. La seva
extravagncia el va dur als Estats Units, on va fer carrera com a figura destacada
del wrestling, la lluita lliure americana. Actualment continua vivint a Florida i
regenta un taller de roba, que ell mateix dissenya, relacionada amb la indstria de
la lluita lliure. La installaci compta amb la collaboraci de Mikel Pascal i Javier
Murillo, autors dun mural inspirat en el documental de Deller.
Le Camion de Zaha. Conversations aprs le paradis perdu [El cami de Zaha. Converses
desprs del parads perdut] (2001-2005), de mireia sallars (Barcelona, 1973),
ens presenta la histria de Zaha, una dona algeriana que venia pizzes en una
12 furgoneta aparcada cada tarda en una plaa de Valence, al sud de Frana. El cami
havia esdevingut un monument de la ciutat, per la prohibici municipal daparcar
vehicles daquest tipus al centre el va fer desaparixer del seu emplaament. Al
seu vdeo, lautora recull les converses i trobades personals que es produen al
voltant del vehicle. A ms de smbol de leliminaci progressiva duna forma de
vida ciutadana incmoda per al capitalisme, el cami era per a Zaha el seu lligam
personal a lexistncia, all que li havia perms, segons les seves prpies paraules,
saber que existia. Sallars colloca la frase en francs Savoir que jexistais, voil!
dalt dun cami que ocupar novament un espai pblic, la plaa del macba. En la
installaci el cami es far servir tamb com a pantalla o suport per a la projecci
de diversos documentals sobre la privatitzaci de lespai pblic i la gentrificaci.
El treball de phil collins (Runcorn, Anglaterra, 1970) geregin geri dns (the
return of the real) [El retorn del real] (2005) s una installaci de vdeo en qu
Cihan, Erdogan, Hlya i Meral, quatre antics participants en reality shows de les
televisions turques, sn entrevistats per un conegut director dun programa de
televisi sobre cirurgia plstica i relaten les experincies i seqeles traumtiques
que laparici va suposar en les seves vides. A travs daquestes confessions
subjectives, Collins fa sentir la fina lnia de separaci que hi ha entre la realitat
i la fantasia, lautenticitat i la illusi. Situant lespectador entre pantalles
collocades davant per davant, la installaci mostra la rebotiga de la despietada
fabricaci amb qu les noves formes de telerealitat produeixen una illusi
de veritat documental. Collins sha interessat sempre per les conseqncies
socials i personals de la creixent confusi entre els mbits pblic i privat i per la
manera en qu les estructures de representaci meditica creen succedanis de
la realitat. Les vctimes daquests dispositius de producci viuen una exposici
total que els infon transitriament noves expectatives, per, com diu Erdogan,
desprs del programa la teva vida s tan desesperanada i dolorosa com abans.
Per explorar la realitat, enric farrs-duran (Palafrugell, Girona, 1983) proposa
uns recorreguts fixats a partir dinvestigacions, coincidncies i trobades fortutes.
Si abans havia fet recorreguts reals-ficticis pel Poblenou i el Prat de Llobregat, ara
recorre la part cntrica de Barcelona, el Districte Cinqu. De fet, Farrs-Duran
ha clonat el llibre dEnrique Vila-Matas, Pars no se acaba nunca (2003), en qu
lautor buscava maneres destablir una continutat entre el real i el fictici, o dit
duna altra manera, on ficcionalitzava el jo i la realitat. En les seves aventures
pel Districte Cinqu barcelon (en qu no manquen els malentesos amb un altre 13
districte cinqu, el de Pars, tamb zona duniversitats), lartista ha fet una recerca
els resultats de la qual es plasmen en una installaci dinputs i troballes en forma
dobjectes, llibres i altres elements que han aparegut al llarg de la investigaci.
La installaci es presenta com lescenari duna representaci a la qual, com a
espectadors, hem arribat massa aviat. La installaci continua amb un recorregut
urb en qu es comenten alguns dels llocs don procedeixen els objectes, com,
per exemple, la Facultat de Filosofia, lEscola Massana o lestudi del dissenyador
Peret. Tamb dna lloc a una publicaci, Pars no se acaba nunca #Districte cinqu
(2014), que recull la totalitat daquest relat a mig cam entre la realitat i la ficci.
rafel g. bianchi (Olot, Girona, 1967) simposa tasques que requereixen un gran
esfor, de vegades per evidenciar labsurditat no solament del treball en art,
sin potser tamb del mn. No s estrany, daltra banda, que en ocasions torni
a lautoretrat, ja sigui amb un enfocament irnic (No preguntis a lignorant, 2005)
o artsticament autoreferencial (A x metres de lobjectiu, 2006-2014). Aquest ltim
treball en curs, que es presenta en lexposici i que lautor es proposa continuar
al llarg de tota la seva vida, recull una srie dimatges preses durant una acci en
qu ell mateix corre allunyant-se de lobjectiu fotogrfic durant deu segons, lapse
de temps que el temporitzador i el mateix artista compten abans que es dispari la
cmera. El ttol s un joc de paraules entre objectiu com a mecanisme fotogrfic i
objectiu com a finalitat. El segon treball incls a lexposici s tamb una obra en
procs, Acudits de vaques i pintors. Cabirol reenactment (2013-2014), obra que consisteix
a pintar de manera reiterada en plein air un mateix paisatge sobre la mateixa tela.
Lacci parteix dun relat suposadament verdic sobre un cert pintor que en el seu
esfor pic per captar la realitat era incapa de donar per acabada una obra. Ambds
treballs subratllen la idea de la impossibilitat ltima de representar la realitat.
Lautoretrat de jill magid (Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1973) encara sha de completar.
Com mostra Auto Portrait Pending [Autoretrat pendent] (2005), lartista ser
convertida en diamant quan mori, i amb aquesta finalitat ha signat un contracte
amb una empresa especialitzada. A les clusules daquest contracte sestipulen els
detalls de fabricaci i les caracterstiques del diamant en qu es transformaran les
cendres de Magid. Dins duna vitrina sexposa lanell sense cap pedra a la muntura,
sense el diamant que completar un autoretrat que de moment est inacabat.
14 Magid ha redactat tamb una carta damor donant instruccions especfiques a alg
encara sense nom: Fes de mi un diamant quan em mori. Tallam rod i brillant.
Fes-me pesar un quirat. Assegurat que sigui real. Amb aquest treball, Magid posa
en evidncia que la mort, com tamb el perill i la inseguretat, sn realitats que les
nostres societats no accepten. Per aix creen sistemes de protecci aparentment
objectius que apaivaguen les nostres pors, eviten que ens fem massa preguntes
i transformen all que no ens atrevim a mirar en una cosa material i agradable.
Jill Magid se serveix dels mateixos mecanismes per evidenciar aquests procediments,
revelar-ne el potencial potic i, en ltima instncia, desencadenar noves formes
dinteracci humana.
Els treballs dels artistes presentats a La realitat invocable sapropen al real duna
manera subtil, partint de laqu i de lara daquesta realitat que es proposen
interpellar, investigar o conquerir. Dit duna altra manera, filmar la realitat, intentar
dirigir-la o representar-la, incorporar-la a lespai expositiu o tractar dincidir-hi sn
solament formes de preguntar-nos qu s la realitat. Com podem enfrontar-nos a
una realitat que no sempre s suportable? I, finalment, poden ser la ficcionalitzaci
i la construcci daquesta realitat lnica forma que tenim dassimilar-la?
Mapa mental al voltant de la noci de la realitat
Clment Rosset
16 sobre el real*
El real s, doncs, en primer lloc, el que queda quan les fantasmagories es dissipen.
Com diu Lucreci, la mscara cau per la realitat roman.2 Evidentment, cal que
quedi alguna cosa. El real s potser la suma de les aparences, les imatges i els
fantasmes que en suggereixen fallaciosament lexistncia. Aquesta ja era a grans
trets la tesi dels escptics grecs (tot i que aquests mantingueren la hiptesi dun
* Traducci a partir de ledici francesa: Clment Rosset: Sur le rel, a Fantasmagories II. claircissements,
* Fantasmagories. Suivi de le rel, limaginaire et lillusoire. Pars: Les ditions de Minuit, 2006, p. 65-71.
1. La Peur, a Contes de la bcasse, p. 88 [ed. esp.: El miedo, Cuentos de la becada, trad. de Mara
del Carmen Friart. Barcelona: Juventud, 1994].
amb laigua del bany: com aquests servents mallorquins que netegen amb tanta
tenacitat un mapamundi rarssim, danyat per la tinta negra que desafortunadament
ha caigut sobre el mapa, que si b no queden rastres de tinta, tampoc ja no hi ha rastre
del mapamundi (com explica George Sand en un divertit passatge dUn hivern a
Mallorca). En resum, el real podria estar constitut pel conjunt dels dobles, i retornar
al no-res en cas que aquests desapareguin. El doble del real s lnic real perqu
s lnic que es pot percebre; el real sense doble no s res. Trobem una deducci
intellectual idntica, tot i que en un sentit invers s a dir, que va de la tesi dels
escptics grecs a la de Pirr, en dues frases clau de la pellcula de Jean Marboeuf
titulada Le Ptit curieux (2003). La realitat s all que no veiem, declara al principi
el llibreter de la ciutat on transcorre la pellcula, que ven, entre daltres, revistes
de nus i segurament ha estat alumne a lescola del voyeurisme, de la qual coneix
el trist lema. Encara millor, la seva declaraci va dirigida a un noiet Clment, el
petit curis que passa el dia fotografiant precisament el real. El llibreter, ajudat
en certa manera per Clment, puntualitza la seva idea ms endavant: La realitat
s all que no existeix.
De manera diferent per fora anloga, el que sha anomenat realisme medieval,
per oposici al nominalisme, consistia a negar la realitat a les coses reals i concretes
i concedir existncia noms a les essncies i les idees abstractes. Larbre no s
real; noms s real la idea de larbre. Aquesta concepci del realisme privava aix
dexistncia tot all que existia, i noms concedia el privilegi de la realitat a tot
all que precisament es veia privat de qualsevol tipus de realitat. Aquest realisme
estrany, tanmateix, no prefigura, almenys no exactament, el que ser la doctrina
de Berkeley. Afirma lnica realitat dall que s concebut, mentre que Berkeley
afirma lnica realitat dall que s percebut.
No hi ha, doncs, res ms ambigu que aquesta noci de real, tan fcil dentendre
en sentits diametralment oposats. Un exemple, entre molts, daquesta ambigitat
s un recull de poesies dun autor persa del segle xiii que vaig comprar fa poc,
sedut pel seu ttol: Soleil du Rel.4 Per fi alg a qui el real no li fa venir nusees,
vaig dir-me ingnuament, pensant que descobriria un nou recull dOmar Khayyam,
quan en realitat es tractava dun real que, com diu Grard de Nerval al poema
El desdichado, duu el sol negre de la malenconia. El Real en qesti era en efecte
una amalgama dIdea platnica i Unitat plotiniana, i el Sol que lillumina, la facultat
4. Jalloddn Rm: Soleil du Rel. Trad. fr. de Christian Jambet. Pars: Imprimerie Nationale, 1999.
dinterrompre qualsevol contacte amb el mn sensible. En resum, el que segons
aquest autor caracteritzava el Sol del Real s que permetia acabar amb tot tipus
de realitat, com el realisme medieval permetia considerar irreal la totalitat dels
objectes concrets i reals. La primera frase de la presentaci del text, firmada pel
traductor, mhauria dhaver posat en gurdia: Tot comena per la prdua.
Passa el mateix amb el real, que supera sempre les descripcions intellectuals que
sen puguin fer. Les pot superar per b, com quan madame de Rnal, a El roig i
el negre, descobreix que el futur preceptor dels seus fills no t res a veure amb
leclesistic auster i repulsiu que temia, sin que s un jove encantador i laic. Tamb
pot passar el contrari, malauradament. Proust pateix una amarga experincia quan
sassabenta per boca de Franoise que la senyoreta Albertine ha marxat. La idea
daquesta ruptura, que uns moments abans sedua Proust, era un pensament agradable.
Per el fet daquesta ruptura provoca un patiment terrible. Aix larribada del real
desbarata i mostra com a errnies les anticipacions imaginades. s per aquesta
ra que he suggerit en moltes ocasions que el real s lnica cosa del mn a la qual
no ens arribem a acostumar mai.
21
lutz mommartz. Als wrs von Beckett, 1976
john smith. The Girl Chewing Gum, 1976
jeremy deller amb la collaboraci de mikel pascal i javier murillo.
So Many Ways to Hurt You (The Life and Times of Adrian Street), 2010
29
39
38
roman ondk. Teaching to Walk, 2002
41
mireia sallars. Le Camion de Zaha. Conversations aprs le paradis perdu, 2001-2005
43
El ms semblant a una biografia oficial del pintor, cantant i filantrop Joan de Cabirol i
Sendrs que shagi redactat mai es troba en el fitxer que lactivista cultural Josep Maria
Canals ha anat recopilant al llarg de diversos anys en el seu Diccionari biogrfic dOlot.
Per a aquesta fitxa en concret, una de les seves fonts va ser el pintor Rafael Griera, que va
compartir amb Cabirol jornades de plenairisme, tertlia intellectual i diversi nocturna.
Anys ms tard, ja mort Cabirol, era rara locasi en qu Rafael Griera, amb motiu duna
xerrada relaxada, no records lexcntric pintor amateur i la seva obsessiva necessitat
de reproduir amb matemtica fidelitat els aiguamolls de la Moixina, lloc emblemtic per
als pintors de la denominada Escola de Paisatgisme dOlot. El que fascinava a Griera no
era tant la lentitud del seu treball com la perseverana per reproduir cada detall duna
naturalesa en canvi constant. Una combinaci que li impossibilitava donar per acabats
els quadres que comenava.
52
jill magid. Auto Portrait Pending, 2005
56
antonio ortega. Scol Antonio Ortega. Un intent de glossar el concepte de demaggia, 2013-2014
58 llista dobres de lexposici
60 presentacin
Su vinculacin a un presente cambiante y pocas veces previsible hace que las lneas
de trabajo del museo de arte contemporneo deban actualizarse constantemente. Si
bien su posicin de vanguardia tambin en el sentido ms literal y casi blico lo
convierte en un lugar privilegiado para enfrentarse en los trminos adecuados al
mundo de su tiempo, igualmente le hace correr el riesgo de una mayor incertidumbre
a la hora de fijar puntos de referencia y establecer valoraciones. Es el reverso de
su cercana inmediata al flujo de la creacin actual.
2. Ibd., p. 52.
film Matrix remite en ltimo trmino a Jean Baudrillard,3 quien toma como base
una fbula de Borges4 en la que unos cartgrafos trazan un mapa a la misma escala
de lo representado, para afirmar que esta es una fbula caduca para nosotros y no
guarda ms que el encanto discreto de los simulacros de segundo orden. [] El
territorio ya no precede al mapa ni le sobrevive. En adelante ser el mapa el que
preceda al territorio y el que lo engendre. [] Son los vestigios de lo real, no los
del mapa, los que todava subsisten esparcidos por unos desiertos que ya no son
los del Imperio, sino nuestro desierto. El propio desierto de lo real.5 63
3. Bienvenidos al desierto de lo real es el ttulo de un libro de Slavoj izek referido a una frase del personaje
de Morfeo en el film Matrix (1999) de los hermanos Wachowski. La cita procede, a su vez, del ensayo
de Jean Baudrillard La prcession des simulacres (1978), recogido en castellano en el libro Cultura y
simulacro (1978).
7. Ibd., p. 21.
8. Como seala el propio Rosset, si no se quiere lo real, es preferible, en efecto, mirar hacia otro lugar,
pero all nunca se encontrar otra cosa que no sea lo que buscaba en realidad: o sea, precisamente nada
(Lcole du rel. Pars: Les ditions de Minuit, 2008, p. 96).
La va que, segn l, mejor permitira aproximarse a esa realidad cruel es,
paradjicamente, la alegra, que en s misma supone ya un conocimiento de lo real:
La alegra implica un saber trgico, pero no se confunde con l. Ella no conoce lo
trgico ms que en la medida en que conoce lo real en general, del que lo trgico
es solo una cualidad entre otras. Se definira, pues, ms justamente, esperando una
mejor aproximacin, como saber de lo real.9
El espejo negro del ttulo es la pantalla de todos los aparatos que utilizamos a
diario (televisor, ordenador, tableta, telfono inteligente). Los episodios de la serie
tienen en comn cierto regusto de tecnoparanoia, pero en el fondo se limitan a
extrapolar unas tendencias ya manifiestas en la actualidad: el registro y duplicacin
9. Clment Rosset: El objeto singular (1979). Madrid: Sexto Piso, 2007, p. 122.
futura de todas nuestras actividades y experiencias; la participacin en programas
de televisin como forma de sentirse salvados; el liderazgo poltico encarnado
en un personaje totalmente artificial
* * *
La exposicin se inicia con dos trabajos de los aos setenta. Los filmes duros y
sin concesiones de lutz mommartz (Erkelenz, Alemania, 1934) estn cargados de
una fuerte tensin emocional. Para el documental dramtico Als wrs von Beckett
[Como si fuera de Beckett] (1976), el director pidi a sus amigos Ila Goldstern
y Gnter Wolf, un matrimonio con ms de veinte aos de casados que viva un
momento especialmente crtico en su relacin, que estuvieran dos semanas sin
verse y luego volvieran a reunirse ante la cmara. El reencuentro es un teatralizado
y cruel intercambio de reproches y acusaciones, lamentos y frustraciones. Aunque
la pareja protagonista consider la experiencia cinematogrfica como una especie
de terapia, ambos comprendieron tras el rodaje que separarse era la nica solucin.
El vdeo The Girl Chewing Gum [La chica que masca chicle] (1976) de john smith
(Londres, 1952), muestra una escena que tiene lugar en una bulliciosa calle londinense.
Se escucha una voz en off que dirige no solo los movimientos de cmara, sino
tambin las acciones de las diferentes personas que van apareciendo en pantalla:
Mueve el triler hacia la izquierda Y quiero a la nia corriendo, ahora Ahora
quiero que el anciano de pelo blanco y gafas cruce la calle. Venga, rpido Mira y
ahora sal por la izquierda. Solo en los minutos finales, la descoordinacin entre
66 la accin y las instrucciones desvela que la voz en off no dirige las idas y venidas de
los personajes; la escena simplemente est filmada en la calle y tan solo constata
la inutilidad de cualquier intento de direccin de la realidad.
Hace tiempo que antonio ortega (Sant Celoni, Barcelona, 1968) investiga los
conceptos de demagogia y propaganda. Como ilustr su accin Hens in the Park
[Gallinas en el parque] (2000-2001), un acto demaggico puede ser la intervencin en
un contexto determinado justificada por una actitud inicial a favor del dbil, aunque
acabe siendo un argumento incongruente. En aquella ocasin fue la puesta en libertad
de gallinas por diferentes parques de Londres, alegando el deseo de devolverlas a un
estado libre, pero sin tomar en cuenta su indefensin ante el fro y los depredadores
o su incapacidad para alimentarse solas. En 2011, Ortega se hallaba en huelga de
artista, siguiendo la invitacin a declararse inactivo durante tres aos que Gustav
Metzger, un artista y activista conocido por sus actitudes combativas respecto al
arte y la poltica y de quien Ortega es admirador, haba realizado en 1977. Cuando
su galera de Viena, Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman, le solicit una obra indita para una
feria de arte, Ortega no estaba en condiciones de hacer un trabajo nuevo, aunque
tampoco quiso negarse. Recuper la imagen de un zcalo registrada al azar en un
carrete fotogrfico antiguo, y a partir de un par de copias positivadas a menor tamao
(un 5%), constituy la obra titulada Gustav Metzger 5%. La propuesta de Ortega
para la presente exposicin, Zcalo Antonio Ortega. Un intento de glosar el concepto de
demagogia (2013-2014), contina en cierto modo el sentido de aquel trabajo, al instalar
en la sala un zcalo de 9 cm de alto, medida ligeramente superior a la estndar. Esa
modificacin mnima y ese sencillo gesto introducen un elemento funcional en el
espacio expositivo, confirindole, de este modo, una realidad distinta de la habitual. 67
nria gell (Vidreres, Girona, 1981) busca que su trabajo tenga incidencia efectiva
en la realidad social y, para ello, disea proyectos de actuacin sobre situaciones
concretas de injusticia derivadas de una aplicacin abusiva de las leyes. La incursin
en el museo es solo una parte de algo ms que se desarrolla fuera de la institucin.
En Negro sobre blanco (2014) Gell propone una especie de prototipo de actuacin
sobre una problemtica concreta: la situacin de los migrantes sin techo que hasta
entonces haban vivido recolectando chatarra instalados en unas naves industriales
del barrio barcelons del Poblenou, y que en el verano de 2013 fueron desalojados
de ellas mediante un enorme dispositivo policial. Aunque la Generalitat y el
Ayuntamiento aceptaron realojarlos, el compromiso sigue sin cumplirse. Con la
complicidad de los desalojados, Gell ha creado el marco legal de la Cooperativa Ca
lfrica, cuyo consejo rector est formado por personas procedentes de territorios
donde los negreros catalanes y espaoles buscaban mano de obra esclava para sus
colonias. El rgimen cooperativo es una herramienta que permite generar contratos
de trabajo para sus miembros y, de ese modo, legalizar a aquellas personas que la
ley de extranjera ilegaliza. El macba ha sido el primer cliente de la organizacin al
proporcionar trabajo a algunas de ellas en el marco de esta exposicin. La cooperativa
podr continuar funcionando de manera autnoma tras esta experiencia.
El trabajo de phil collins (Runcorn, Inglaterra, 1970) geregin geri dns (the return of
the real) [El retorno de lo real] (2005) es una instalacin mltiple de videoproyecciones
en la que Cihan, Erdogan, Hlya y Meral, cuatro antiguos participantes en reality
shows de las televisiones turcas, relatan en entrevistas con un clebre director de un
programa de televisin sobre ciruga esttica las experiencias y secuelas traumticas
que la aparicin supuso en sus vidas. A travs de esas confesiones subjetivas, Collins
hace sentir la fina lnea de separacin que existe entre la realidad y la fantasa, la
autenticidad y la ilusin. Situando al espectador entre pantallas colocadas frente
a frente, la instalacin muestra la trastienda de la despiadada fabricacin con que
las nuevas formas de telerrealidad producen una ilusin de verdad documental.
Collins se ha interesado siempre por las consecuencias sociales y personales de
la creciente confusin entre los mbitos pblico y privado y por el modo en que
las estructuras de representacin meditica crean sucedneos de la realidad. Las
vctimas de estos dispositivos de produccin viven una exposicin total que les
infunde transitoriamente nuevas expectativas, pero, como dice Erdogan, tu vida
tras el programa es tan desesperada y dolorosa como antes.
rafel g. bianchi (Olot, Girona, 1967) se impone tareas que requieren un gran
esfuerzo, algunas veces para evidenciar el absurdo no solo del trabajo en arte, sino
quizs tambin del mundo. No es extrao, por lo dems, que en ocasiones vuelva
al autorretrato, ya sea con un enfoque irnico (No preguntes al ignorante, 2005) o
artsticamente autorreferencial (A x metros del objetivo, 2006-2014). Este ltimo
trabajo en proceso, presentado en la exposicin y que el autor se propone continuar
a lo largo de toda su vida, recoge una serie de imgenes tomadas durante una
accin en la que l mismo corre alejndose del objetivo fotogrfico durante diez
segundos, lapso de tiempo que el temporizador y el propio artista van contando
antes de realizarse la fotografa. El ttulo es un juego de palabras entre objetivo
como mecanismo fotogrfico y objetivo como finalidad. El segundo de los trabajos
incluidos en la exposicin es tambin una obra en proceso, Acudits de vaques i
pintors. Cabirol reenactment [Chistes de vacas y pintores. Cabirol reenactment]
(2013-2014), que consiste en pintar reiteradamente en plein air un mismo paisaje
sobre el mismo lienzo. La accin parte de un relato supuestamente verdico sobre
cierto pintor que en su pico esfuerzo por captar la realidad era incapaz de dar
por acabada una obra. Ambos trabajos subrayan la idea de la imposibilidad ltima
70 de representar la realidad.
72 sobre lo real*
Lo real es, por tanto, en primer lugar, aquello que queda cuando las fantasmagoras
se disipan. Como dice Lucrecio, cae la mscara y queda la realidad.2 Algo tiene
que quedar, evidentemente. Lo real quiz sea la suma de las apariencias, de las
imgenes y de los fantasmas que falazmente sugieren su existencia. Esta era ya
* Clment Rosset: Sobre lo real, en Fantasmagoras II. Aclaraciones, Fantasmagoras. Seguido de lo real,
lo imaginario y lo ilusorio, trad. de Maysi Veuthey. Madrid: Abada editores, 2008, pp. 67-74. Traduccin revisada.
1. La Peur, en Contes de la bcasse, p. 88 [ed. esp.: El miedo, Cuentos de la becada, trad. de Mara del Carmen
Friart. Barcelona: Juventud, 1994].
real de los parsitos que lo velan, corremos el riesgo de, sencillamente, anular lo
real y tirar al nio con el agua sucia del bao; como esos criados mallorquines
que limpian con tanto empeo un mapamundi rarsimo, estropeado por haberse
derramado encima tinta negra, que si bien no quedan rastros de las manchas de tinta,
tampoco hay ya rastro del mapamundi (segn cuenta George Sand en un divertido
pasaje de Un invierno en Mallorca). En resumen, lo real podra estar constituido por
el conjunto de los dobles y volver a la nada en caso de desaparicin de estos. El
doble de lo real es lo nico real porque es lo nico que se puede percibir; lo real
sin doble no es nada. Encontramos una deduccin intelectual totalmente similar,
aunque en sentido inverso, es decir, que va desde la tesis de los escpticos a la de
Pirrn, en dos frases clave de la pelcula de Jean Marboeuf titulada Le Ptit curieux
(2003). La realidad es lo que no se ve, declara al principio el librero de la ciudad
donde transcurre la pelcula, el cual vende, entre otras, revistas de desnudos y ha
tomado clases de voyeurismo, cuyo triste lema se sabe de memoria. Mejor an,
su declaracin va dirigida a un chaval Clment, el ptit curieux que se pasa el
da fotografiando justamente lo real. El librero, ayudado un poco por Clment,
precisar ms adelante su comentario: La realidad es lo que no existe.
As pues, nada ms ambiguo que la nocin de lo real, que tan fcilmente se deja
entender en sentidos diametralmente opuestos. Ejemplo de esta ambigedad, entre
otros infinitos, es una recopilacin de poesas de autor persa del siglo xiii que,
seducido por su ttulo, Soleil du Rel,4 adquir recientemente. Por fin alguien a quien
lo real no produce nusea, imagin ingenuamente, creyendo descubrir una nueva
recopilacin de Omar Jayam cuando en realidad se trataba de un real que, como
4. Jalloddn Rm: Soleil du Rel. Trad. fr. de Christian Jambet. Pars: Imprimerie Nationale, 1999.
dice Grard de Nerval en El desdichado, lleva el sol negro de la melancola. Lo
Real en cuestin era, en efecto, una mezcla de Idea platnica y Unidad plotiniana,
y el Sol que lo ilumina, la facultad de interrumpir todo contacto con el mundo
sensible. En resumen, el Soleil du Rel consista para su autor en permitir acabar
con cualquier clase de realidad, exactamente como el realismo medieval autorizaba
a tener por irreal la totalidad de los objetos concretos y reales. La primera frase
de la presentacin del texto por su traductor debera haberme prevenido: Todo
empieza por la prdida. 75
Lo mismo sucede con lo real. Siempre supera las descripciones intelectuales que
se puedan hacer de ello. Puede superarlas para bien, como cuando madame de
Rnal, en Rojo y negro, descubre que el futuro preceptor de sus hijos no solo no
es el eclesistico austero y repulsivo que se teme, sino que se revela como un
joven y encantador laico. Desgraciadamente, tambin puede superarlas para mal.
Proust tiene esa amarga experiencia cuando se entera por boca de Franoise que
mademoiselle Albertine se ha ido. La idea de esa ruptura, que seduca a Proust
algunos instantes antes, era un pensamiento agradable. Pero el hecho de esta ruptura
provoca un sufrimiento atroz. As, la llegada de lo real desbarata las anticipaciones
que uno haya podido imaginarse, mostrndolas generalmente como errneas. De
ah que yo haya sugerido en repetidas ocasiones que lo real es la nica cosa del
mundo a la que no nos habituamos nunca.
76 lista de obras de la exposicin
roman ondk
pginas 28-30 Teaching to Walk, 2002
rafel g. bianchi [Enseando a andar]
A x metres de lobjectiu, 2006-2014 Performance
[A x metros del objetivo] Cortesa del artista y de la coleccin
(Serie en proceso) de Jrg Johnen, Berln
Impresin por chorro de tinta sobre papel
35,5 x 40 cm
Cortesa del artista y de la galera
Nogueras Blanchard
pginas 41-43
Laura Villaplana y Jordi Orriola, Roquetes:
mireia sallars memries que fan barri [Roquetas. Memorias
Le Camion de Zaha. Conversations aprs de un barrio], 2011, 27 min
le paradis perdu, 2001-2005
[El camin de Zaha. Conversaciones 9.5.2014: Cristina Mora y Neus Rfols,
despus del paraso perdido] El barri sha de defensar [Hay que defender
Vdeo monocanal, color, sonido, 44 min el barrio], 2013, 40 min
Marta Saleta, Encaixonats [Encajonados],
pginas 44-45 2011, 52 min
mireia sallars 16.5.2014: Roberto Garca Rodrguez,
Savoir que jexistais..., 2003-2014 Guillermo Beluzo e Isaac Marrero-
[Saber que yo exista...] Guillamn, Fragmentos de una fbrica en
(Serie fotogrfica en proceso) desmontaje, 2007, 47 min
Fotografa cromognica Li Zompantli, La bomba ninja, 2013, 23 min
Fotografa: Lisbeth Salas Taller de Ficci, Aqu es aparcamiento, 2012,
1. Estudio de artistas en el interior de una 16 min
nave del recinto industrial de Can Ricart,
en Poblenou, demolida en el ao 2006. 23.5.2014: Xavier Artigas y Xapo Ortega,
Barcelona, 2005 Ciutat morta [Ciudad muerta], 2013, 120 min
2. Jardn con piscina creado sobre los
escombros de un antiguo edificio de viviendas pginas 48-51
jill magid
pginas 46-47 Auto Portrait Pending, 2005
mireia sallars [Autorretrato pendiente]
Savoir que jexistais, voil!, Barcelona, 2005 Materiales diversos
[Saber que yo exista, eso es!] Cortesa del artista y de Yvon Lambert, Pars
Aluminio, plstico, metacrilato, vinilo
y camin de desguace pginas 56-57
antonio ortega
Savoir que jexistais, voil!, 2014 Zcalo Antonio Ortega. Un intento de glosar
Intervencin en la Plaa dels ngels con un el concepto de demagogia, 2013-2014
camin de desguace, sobre el que se proyecta Instalacin. Zcalo personalizado por el
una seleccin de documentales: artista a partir del modelo Grey del catlogo
18.4.2014: Joaquim Jord, De nens [De nios], Tao de Rosa
2004, 188 min Gres porcelnico
78 presentation
Its association with a changing and seldom predictable present calls for constant
updating of the contemporary art museums way of working. While its position
in the vanguard also in the most literal sense, almost that of military combat
makes it an excellent place in which to confront in suitable terms the world of the
day, it also means it runs the risk of greater uncertainty in establishing reference
points and evaluations. This is the other side of its immediate proximity to the
flow of present-day creation.
The institutional calling of a centre like macba to directly question present reality
in the form of artistic creation dovetails perfectly with the meaning of a project
such as Invocable Reality. The works of the eleven artists of different origins and
generations brought together in the exhibition seek to question the present in
depth, addressing very different contexts of the reality of our world. They do so by
engaging with the very precepts of reality, which tend to be accepted as absolute
and unequivocal. Confrontation with different spheres of creation and other space
and time contexts allow us to begin to question an ingenuous, isolated perception
of the real.
What is reality? What is the real? These questions are at the root of all philosophical
and also creative thought, and they continue with more currency, if that is possible,
when everything we perceive to be reality is subject to unprecedented construction,
interference, manipulation and fictionalisation.
The artists involved in Invocable Reality employ very different strategies and
methodologies in their questioning of the real, but they have in common an approach
to what is vital and at the same time subtle, never explicit. For them, the real constitutes
a broad field of research, which takes in heterogeneous places and temporalities. Set
out here and now, their vision reflects the desires, doubts and rejections brought about
by dealing with the encircling real, still leaving open the interpretation of something
that through our experience remains impenetrable and undefinable.
We would like to thank Montse Badia for her wonderful work as curator of this
exhibition, which launches a new format for the museum and explores such diverse
dimensions of time and space. And we very especially wish to express our gratitude
to all the artists who have participated in this project, for their engagement,
involvement and generosity, and above all the quality of their work.
Montse Badia
We have a complicated relationship with reality. We believe that being closer to the
real will make us more aware of being alive, but reality can often be just too painful.
It is, then, no wonder that we approach it by means of camouflage and illusion.
Further, we are living at a time when the media seeks to pacify us by constructing
a more digestible reality. But has this always been the case? The twentieth century,
as Alain Badiou writes in his essay The Century (2005), starts with the distinction
between the ideal and its realisation: The twentieth century fulfils the promises
of the nineteenth century. The twentieth century realises what the nineteenth
century thought In Lacanian terms, there are two ways of putting this: either
the twentieth century is the real of that for which the nineteenth century was the
Imaginary, or it is the Real of that for which the nineteenth was the Symbolic. 1 He
proposes something that remains valid today: The nineteenth century announced,
dreamed and promised; the twentieth century declared that it would make man,
here and now. This is what I propose to call the passion of the real. I am convinced
it provides the key to understanding the century.2
But what do we mean when we speak of reality, or the real? Of the many possible
ways of approaching the real, there are two that deserve our attention. The
1. Alain Badiou. The Century. Cambridge and New York: Polity Press, 2007.
2. Ibd.
first is the notion of the desert of the real, which, via Slavoj izek and the film
The Matrix, ultimately refers to Jean Baudrillard,3 who took as his basis the Borges
fable4 about the cartographers who made a map on the same scale as what it
represents, to say that: his fable has now come full circle for us, and possesses
nothing but the discrete charm of second-order simulacra. The territory no
longer precedes the map, nor does it survive it. It is nevertheless the map that
precedes the territory precession of simulacra that engenders the territory It
is the real, and not the map, whose vestiges persist here and there, in the deserts 81
that are no longer those of the Empire, but ours. The desert of the real itself. 5
For Slavoj izek, the catastrophe, the discovery of this desert of the real
awakening to an inhospitable reality, be it the desolate city of The Matrix or the
attack on New Yorks Twin Towers is the only possibility of gaining awareness of
the real in all its harshness and confronting the fiction in which our lives unfold.
Clment Rosset has another very different way of approaching reality. Every
philosophy is a theory of the real, that is, in accordance with the Greek etymology
of the word theory, the result of looking at things.6 It is true that given the
intrinsically painful and tragic nature of reality,7 we avoid facing cruelty and turn
our eyes away, because there is only so much reality we can take. However, the
person who pursues knowledge of the real should not go very far. Do not seek
the real anywhere other than the here and now, because it is here and now, only
here and now, insists Rosset.8
3. Welcome to the Desert of the Real is the title of a book by Slavoj izek, referring to the words of the character
of Morpheus in the 1999 film The Matrix by the Wachowski Brothers. The quote is taken from Jean
Baudrillards essay La prcession des simulacres (1978).
4. Jorge Luis Borges. On Rigor in Science, in Dreamtigers. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964.
5. Jean Baudrillard. Simulacra and Simulation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994, p. 1.
6. Clment Rosset. Joyful Cruelty: Toward a Philosophy of the Real. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
7. Ibd.
8. As Rosset writes, If it is not the real that one seeks to see, it is preferable to turn ones gaze elsewhere,
but elsewhere, one will only find what one was in reality seeking: precisely nothing. (Lcole du rel. Paris:
Les ditions de Minuit, 2008, p. 96).
According to Rosset, the best way to approach this cruel reality is, paradoxically,
by means of joy, which in itself involves knowledge of the real. Joy involves knowing
about the tragic but is not part of it. It involves knowledge of the tragic only to
the extent that it knows the real in general, of which the tragic is one more quality.
It can be defined, then, more precisely, in the absence of a closer approximation,
as knowledge of the real. 9
82 Reality and its representation, and reality and its mediation, are themes that
continue to concern not just philosophy but also literature and art. Although we
are living in a time of non-reality marked by the rhetoric of distraction and the
mechanisms of construction, mediation, fictionalisation and virtualisation of
reality, at the same time there is a passion for the real; for the genuine, for that
which is credible. On the one hand, in their treatment of the public domain, global
networks and media have become mediators of contemporary consciousness,
prompting a redefinition of what we understand by reality. On the other, there is
a need to show even the most banal and anodyne aspects of the real.
The black mirror of the title is the screen of all the devices we use every day
(television, monitor, tablet, smartphone). The episodes are all marked by a certain
technoparanoia, although they basically expand trends that are already manifest:
the recording and future duplication of all of our activities and experiences;
participation in television programmes as a way of feeling saved; political leadership
embodied in a totally artificial character
9. Clment Rosset: El objeto singular (1979). Madrid: Sexto Piso, 2007, p. 122.
Hence the questions: Is there a reality beyond our perception? Are both life
and death affirmation of the real? Could extreme violence be the price to pay
for uncovering certain layers of reality? Could the real be everyday personal
experience, or is reality other people? Is it possible truly to portray a slice of life?
What is authenticity? What do art and culture have to do with all this? Can art
have an impact on reality?
83
* * *
The title of the exhibition, Invocable Reality, refers to words spoken by Paul Celan
in his acceptance speech at the award of the Bremen Literary Prize in 1958. The
writer was referring to the poem in our case, we would say art as a message
directed to a place that stands open, a message addressed to a You, to a reality
that is invocable, transitable or subject to appeal. Similarly, Invocable Reality brings
together various approaches to the real essayed by artistic practice. It does so in
the form of a selection of works by eleven artists, belonging to different contexts
and generations, that explore and question the frameworks of reference of our
conception of reality.
The exhibition opens with two works from the 1970s. The hard, uncompromising
films of lutz mommartz (Erkelenz, Germany, 1934) are fraught with emotional
tension. For the dramatic documentary Als wrs von Beckett [As if it was from
Beckett] (1976), the director asked his friends Ila Goldstern and Gnter Wolf,
a couple who had been married for over twenty years and were going through
a particularly critical moment in their relationship, to spend two weeks apart
and then come together again in front of the camera. The meeting is a cruel,
theatricalised exchange of reproaches and accusations, regrets and frustration.
Although the couple considered the cinematographic experience a kind of therapy,
both realised after the shoot that separation was the only option.
The video The Girl Chewing Gum (1976) by john smith (London, 1952), shows a
scene in a busy London street. A voice-over directs not only the movements of the
camera, but also the actions of the various people who appear on screen: Slowly
move the trailer to the left And I want the little girl to run across, now Right,
now I want the old man with white hair and glasses to cross the road. Come on,
quickly! Look this way. Now walk on to the left. Only in the final minutes, when
action and instructions cease to correspond, is it apparent that the voice-over is
not directing the comings and goings of the characters; the scene is simply filmed
in the street and notes the futility of any attempt to direct reality.
The blurring of borders between art and life is also addressed in more recent works
such as those by Roman Ondk, Antonio Ortega and Nria Gell. In Teaching
84 to Walk (2002), roman ondk (ilina, Slovakia, 1966) shows a mother teaching
her child to take his first steps. The location is a gallery and the act, inspired by
the artists own experience when his son started walking, is a crucial moment in the
childs life. With practically no other content, the work portrays the unpredictable
nature of human actions and the inconsistency of expectations that spectators
bring to a work of art. When they enter a space in a museum, a fragment of reality
becomes something else, though just as real as elsewhere. It is the artist who has
configured a different viewpoint from which to experience this.
antonio ortega (Sant Celoni, Barcelona, 1968) has been looking into the concepts
of demagogy and propaganda for some time. As his action Hens in the Park (2000-
2001) illustrated, a demagogic act can be an intervention in a particular context
justified by an initial action in favour of the weak, even if it ends up being an
incongruent argument. On that occasion, it was the release of hens in various
London parks, expressing the desire to return them to the wild but without taking
account of their helplessness when faced with the cold, predators and their inability
to feed themselves. In 2011, Ortega found himself on artistic strike, following the
invitation of Gustav Metzger, an artist and activist known for his combative attitude
toward art and politics and someone Ortega admired, who in 1977 went on strike
and halted production for three years. When his Vienna gallery, Elisabeth and Klaus
Thoman, requested an unseen work for an art fair, Ortega was not in a position
to produce a new piece, but neither did he want to say no. He came up with an
image of a skirting board that had by chance been recorded on an old roll of film,
and from a couple of prints of it, made a little smaller (5% smaller), he came up
with the work entitled Gustav Metzer 5%. Ortegas contribution to this exhibition,
Scal Antonio Ortega. Un intent de glossar el concepte de demaggia [Antonio Ortega
Skirting Board. An Attempt to Explain the Concept of Demagogy] (20132014),
in a way continues that works path, with a nine-centimetre-high (a little higher
than the norm) skirting board installed in the room. This tiny modification and
this simple gesture introduce a functional element in the exhibition space, thus
creating a new sense of reality that is distinct from our normal perception.
nria gell (Vidreres, Girona, 1981) aims for her work to have an effective influence
on social reality and to this end she designs plans of action over instances of injustice
that stem from the abusive application of laws. The incursion into the museum is just
part of something bigger that is developed outside the institution. In Negre sobre blanc
[Black on White] (2014) Gell offers a kind of action prototype over a particular 85
problem: the situation of homeless migrants who previously earned a living by collecting
scrap metal and lived in industrial sites in the Poblenou district of Barcelona, and who,
in the summer of 2013, were evicted in an enormous police operation. Although the
Catalan government, the Generalitat and the city council agreed to rehouse them,
this promise has yet to be fulfilled. Together with the evictees, Gell has set up the
legal framework of the Cooperativa Ca lfrica (Africa House Cooperative), whose
governing body is made up of people from territories where Catalan and Spanish
slave traders went to search for forced labour for their colonies. The cooperative
model is a tool that allows their members to have employment contracts, and thus
legalise those people who the immigration law makes illegal. macba has been the
organisations first clients, providing work for some of them in connection with this
exhibition. The cooperative will be able to function independently after this experience.
Other artists included in the exhibition have chosen to capture reality by filming
it directly. This is the case of Jeremy Deller, Mireia Sallars and Phil Collins, who
present different accounts of individuals biographies. In So Many Ways to Hurt
You (The Life and Times of Adrian Street) (2010), jeremy deller (London, 1966)
documents the life of Adrian Street, son of a Welsh miner who was fascinated
by bodybuilding. Though ridiculed by his father and the community, he made a
career for himself in the 1960s and the 1970s as a wrestler, starring on television
programmes. Adrian Street himself narrates his experiences, starting the story by
reciting a poem: I could be a tulip, I could be a man / the only way of knowing
is to catch me if you can. / You can suppose what you want to suppose, but Im a
sweet transvestite with a broken nose. His extravagance took him to the United
States, where he became a prominent figure in the wrestling world. Today, he still
lives in Florida where he runs a business manufacturing wrestling wear that he
designs himself. The installation involves the collaboration of Mikel Pascal and
Javier Murillo, creators of a mural inspired by Dellers documentary.
Le Camion de Zaha. Conversations aprs le paradis perdu [Zaha's Van. Conversations
after a Paradise Lost] (2001-2005), by mireia sallars (Barcelona, 1973), tells
the story of Zaha, an Algerian woman who sold pizzas from a van that parked
every afternoon in a square in the town of Valence, in the south of France. The
van became a monument in itself in the town, but a municipal ban on this type
of vehicle parking in the centre forced it to move on. In her video, the artist
presents conversations and meetings that took place around the van. As well as
86 a symbol of the gradual elimination of a way of town life that sat uncomfortably
with capitalism, for Zaha the van was her personal hold on existence, which
had allowed her, in her own words, to know that I existed. Sallars places these
words (savoir que jexistais, voil!) on the roof of a van, which once again physically
occupies a public space, the plaza outside macba. In the installation, the van also
serves as a screen or support for the projection of several documentaries about
the privatisation of public space and gentrification.
The work of phil collins (Runcorn, United Kingdom, 1970), geregin geri dns
(the return of the real) (2005) is a video installation in which Cihan, Erdogan, Hlya
and Meral, four former participants in reality shows on Turkish television, are
interviewed by a TV director of a plastic surgery programme about their experiences
and the traumatic consequences these appearances had on their lives. Using
these subjective confessions, Collins presents us with the fine line separating
reality and fantasy, authenticity and illusion. Situating the spectator between two
screens opposite each other, the installation goes behind the scenes to show the
ruthless fabrication with which new forms of television reality create the illusion
of documentary truth. Collins has always been interested in the social and personal
consequences of the growing confusion between public and private realms and the
way in which the medias structures of representation create surrogates of reality.
The victims of these production devices undergo total exposure that temporarily
gives them new expectations, but to quote Erdogan, your life after the programme
is just as desperate and painful as it was before.
To explore reality, enric farrs-duran (Palafrugell, Girona, 1983) sets out itineraries
based on investigation, coincidences and chance meetings. Having organised
real/fictitious itineraries around Poblenou and El Prat de Llobregat, this time he
focuses on Barcelonas central District Five. In fact, Farrs-Duran has made a fake
of Enrique Vila-Matass book, Never Any End to Paris (2003), which seeks ways to
establish continuity between the real and the fictional or, to put it another way,
fictionalises the self and the real. In his wanderings around Barcelonas District
Five (where there is much confusion with another district five, that of Paris, also
an area laden with universities), the artist pieces together an investigation with
results which shape an installation of inputs and findings in the form of objects,
books and other elements that emerge in the process. The installation is presented
as the stage of a performance for which we, as spectators, have arrived too early.
The installation continues in a guided urban itinerary around some of the places 87
that provided the objects, such as the Faculty of Philosophy, the Massana Art
School and the studio of the designer Peret, and in a publication, Pars no se acaba
nunca #Districte cinqu (2014), which draws togethers the whole story, a mix of
reality and fiction.
rafel g. bianchi (Olot, Girona, 1967) sets himself tasks that require a great effort,
sometimes to demonstrate the absurdity of work not only in art but also, perhaps,
in the world. It is not unusual for him to come back to the self-portrait, either with
an ironic approach (No preguntis a lignorant [Dont Ask the Ignoramus], 2005) or
artistically self-referring (A x metres de lobjectiu [At x Metres from the Objective,
20062014). The latter is a work in progress, included in the exhibition and which
the artist proposes to continue throughout his life. It comprises a series of images
taken during the action of him running away from the lens for ten seconds, a time
lapse counted by the cameras self-timer as well as the artist before the photograph
is taken. The title is a play on words between objective, which is the word
in Catalan and Spanish for the camera lens and objective meaning an aim.
The second of the works included in the exhibition is also a series in progress,
Acudits de vaques i pintors. Cabirol reenactment [Jokes about Cows and Painters.
Cabirol re-enactment] (20132014) and involves the continual repainting en
plein air of the same landscape on the same canvas. The action is based on a
supposedly true story about a painter who, in his epic attempt to capture reality,
was incapable of finishing a painting. Both works highlight the idea of the
ultimate impossibility of representing reality.
The self-portrait of jill magid (Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1973) is not yet finished.
As Auto Portrait Pending (2005) shows, the artist will be turned into a diamond
after her death and has signed a contract with a specialist firm. The clauses of
this contract stipulate the details of transformation and the characteristics of the
diamond to be made from her ashes. A display case contains a ring shank and a
setting without a stone the diamond that will complete a self-portrait, which,
for the moment, remains uncompleted. Magid has also written a love letter giving
specific instructions to an as yet nameless someone: Make me a diamond when
I die. Cut me round and brilliant. Weigh me at one carat. Ensure that I am real.
With this work, Magid shows that death, like danger and uncertainty, are realities
that our societies do not accept. They therefore create apparently objective systems
88 of protection to allay our fears, stop us asking too many questions and turn the
things that we do not dare to look at into something material and pleasant. Jill
Magid uses the same mechanisms to highlight this procedure, reveal its poetic
potential and, ultimately, create new forms of human interaction.
The works by the artists presented in Invocable Reality, then, bring a subtle approach
to the real, taking as their departure point the here and now of this reality,
which they set out to question, investigate and conquer. Or, amounting to the
same, filming reality, endeavouring to direct or represent it, incorporating it into
the exhibition space or trying to influence it are merely ways of asking ourselves
what reality is. How can we face a reality that is not always bearable? And could
the fictionalisation and construction of this reality be the only way we have of
assimilating it?
Clment Rosset
90 on the real *
So the real, firstly, is what is left when phantasmagorias are dispelled. To quote
Lucretius, The mask is torn off, reality remains.2 This therefore means that
something remains. The real is, perhaps, the sum of the appearances, images and
phantasms that misleadingly suggest its existence. This was, roughly speaking,
the thesis of the Greek Sceptics (though they maintained the hypothesis of a
material support to appearances, which they termed hypokeimenon a support that
* Translated from the French text: Clment Rosset, Sur le rel, in Fantasmagories II. claircissements,
Fantasmagories. Suivi de le rel, limaginaire et lillusoire. Paris: Les ditions de Minuit, 2006, pp. 65-71.
map, damaged by black ink accidentally spilled on it, that while they removed
every trace of ink, they also removed every trace of the world map (as George Sand
recounts in a humorous passage in A Winter in Majorca). In short, the real could
be the sum of all doubles and return to nothingness if the doubles disappear. The
double of the real is the only real because it is the only one that is perceptible;
without a double, the real is nothing. We see a rather similar intellectual deduction,
though the other way round going back, that is, from the thesis of the Sceptics
to that of Pyrrhon in two key phrases from a film by Jean Marboeuf called Le Ptit
curieux (2003). Reality is what you cant see, says the librarian in the town where
the film is set, who among other things sells nude magazines and studied at the
school of voyeurism, with whose teachings he is well acquainted. He goes further
and addresses this comment to a boy Clment, le ptit curieux who spends his
time taking photographs of the real. The librarian, with some help from Clment,
goes on to clarify his thought: Reality is that which doesnt exist.
Our apprentice philosopher, the librarian in Marboeufs film, could clarify his thinking
here and say that if the real is that which does not exist, it is because that which is real
is never perceived (or is perceived indirectly or belatedly, often far too late for this
perception to be useful or useable; as happens to the victims of the machinations
imagined by Boileau-Narcejac in his novels, who often glimpse the truth when
they are no longer able to take advantage of it). In fact, the arguments generally
put forward against the notion of the real are similar, though lacking philosophical
genius, to the arguments used by Berkeley in his critique of the notion of matter,
which he considers to be the greatest illusion in philosophy. Esse est percipi to be is
In a different though still similar way, what has been termed medieval realism, as
opposed to nominalism, consisted in denying the reality of real, concrete things
and only recognising the existence of essences and abstract ideas. The tree is not
real; only the idea of the tree is real. This conception of realism therefore deprived
any existing thing of existence, according the privilege of reality only to that
which, precisely, lacked any kind of reality. However, this strange realism does
not prefigure exactly, at least what was to be Berkeleys doctrine. It asserts the
sole reality of that which is conceived, whereas Berkeley asserts the sole reality
of that which is perceived.
What, then, could be more ambiguous than this notion of real, which lends itself
so easily to being understood in diametrically opposite senses? As an illustration
one of so many of this ambiguity, I was recently drawn by its title to buy a
collection of poetry by a thirteenth century Persian writer, entitled Soleil du Rel.4
Finally, someone who is not sickened by the real, I naively supposed, thinking I
had discovered a new compendium of Omar Khayyam, when in fact I was dealing
with a real which, as Gerard de Nerval wrote in El desdichado, bears the black sun
of melancholy. The Real in question was in fact an amalgam of Platonic Idea
and Plotinian Unity, and the Sun that illuminates the faculty to interrupt contact
authorises a dazzling intuition of reality that, as I see it, dispenses with perceptions
and reasons. In a passage from his novel Le Voyeur, Alain Robbe-Grillet describes
at length the dyke of a port, lingering on each cobble, each cement bond joining
one stone to the next. On a programme broadcast by Radio-France, a critic asked
Robbe-Grillet why he had devoted so many sentences to describing the detail of a
quay that, apart from its lack of interest or importance to the plot of the novel, is
also difficult for the reader to visualise. Robbe-Grillets reply: if I described this quay
at length, it was precisely to show that it was indescribable. Yet that quay exists.
The same goes for the real. The real always exceeds the intellectual descriptions
made of it. It can exceed them positively, as when Madame de Rnal, in The Red and
the Black, discovers that the future tutor of her children, far from being the austere,
repulsive cleric she dreads, turns out to be a young and charming layman. It can
also, sadly, exceed them negatively. Proust discovered this from bitter experience
when he learned from the lips of Franoise that Mademoiselle Albertine has gone!.
The idea of this separation, which a few moments previously Proust had found
alluring, was an agreeable thought. But the fact of this separation causes excruciating
pain. The advent of the real, then, thwarts and overthrows the expectations that
have been formed. This is why I have repeatedly suggested that the real was the
only thing in the world that we never get used to.
94 list of the works in the exhibition
Mireia Collado
AUDIOVISUALS tcnica de recursos humans Ainhoa Pernaute
tcnics daudiovisuals
Marta Bertran
administrativa de premsa
Miquel Giner assistent de recursos humans Victria Corts
Jordi Martnez Angie Acebo
recepcionista- telefonista
Erminda Rodrguez
MITJANS DIGITALS
responsable
de mitjans digitals
Snia Lpez
coordinadora
de mitjans digitals
Anna Ramos
assistent
de mitjans digitals
Lorena Martn
CONCESSIONS I GESTI
DESPAIS
responsable de concessions
i gesti despais
Gemma Romaguera
coordinadora
de gesti despais
Georgina Filomeno
administrativa
de gesti despais
Ariadna Pons
FUNDACI MUSEU empreses fundadores socis corporatius
directora
directora de comunicaci
i mecenatge
departament de mecenatge
secretaria i administraci