Art Rotterdam 2013
New Art Section
06.02.2013 – 10.02.2013
Als de kamer al vol is – Sara Campos, Mister Motley, 18.02.2013
On Art Rotterdam, thoughts and expectations
Sara Campos, February 2013
To give air and space to a somehow confined place like an art fair booth requires, in my view, a particular attention to the notion of the non-spectacular. To find a way where the images are not being given before hand but to create a possibility that the images can be searched and explored. Especially when dealing with time based mediums, I wonder how could the viewer dedicate attention and spend time with the works.
I think this notion has been a great part of my focus as an artist in mostly every artwork I do. It has to do with something quite ephemeral that I try to visualize and that has to do with always having this thought that there is an overwhelming distance between people. I think for this reason, I tend to always question the basics as part of a research, a research that has to do with finding a kind of material trace, an image, a sound that can shrink the distance. I could call it a search for finding different forms of intimacy, but these words used only conceal the search as a maker. So when using the body as a medium and questioning the basics of a performance, I must embrace the non-spectacular, because perhaps only then, there would be a difference perceived, a learned thing, a kind of knowledge. Also because the materiality of a time based medium might be destined to vanish when the activity is over.
The works that are going to be shown in Art Rotterdam are all dealing with the same activity (in a visual sense). The works are being developed around the activity of stepping on clay but they are all questioning different senses. I am interested in how to visualize the difference between them in order to understand how meaning is constructed and how is it perceived. So, I suggested having a person, stepping on clay in relation to two video works. I cannot reflect upon something that did not happen yet but I can work with some conditions in order to shrink the distance between the performer and the one watching. When I deal with distance in this specific activity, I am thinking of what is happening to someone else when stepping on clay and what could happen regarding the context and the instruction given before hand. How are you going to approach another person physically? How big is the physical space in-between people and how can overloaded minds of both performer and viewer meet up? Will it be possible to achieve concentration in the performance in the context of an art fair?
Sara Campos, Art Rotterdam 2013, installation view @ Apice for Artists
Sara Campos, Art Rotterdam 2013, installation view @ Apice for Artists
Sara Campos, Art Rotterdam 2013, installation view @ Apice for Artists
Sara Campos, Art Rotterdam 2013, installation view (detail) @ Apice for Artists
Sara Campos, Art Rotterdam 2013, installation view (detail) @ Apice for Artists