The eighth day of my residency was spent talking with Francesco Pedraglio as we walked to city centre. We spent the morning discussing his new artwork for the Museo and also my research.
I then visited the Museo Naciónal de la Máscara. The Museo has a number of impressive masks and a few lengthy texts in English which was really helpful. I spent a long time reading and looking trying to make connections between my Leonora Carrington research and the masks that had been used in various ceremonies.
Antonio, Francesco and I arrived at the Centro Universitario de las Artes Ubicación in the late afternoon where we met the BA Contemporary Art students. We went through the format of the afternoon explaining that we would look at their work first without any explanation from the student, next the student would give a short presentation about the work to be followed by comments and questions.
The first student, Manuel, presented a installation (photographs, sculptures and a video). His work was about a cycle journey he completed a week ago as a way to try and clear his mind and escape his problems. Along his journey he created temporary sculptures with found materials which he documented through photography and video. The autobiographical audio that accompanied the video had been recorded after the event and seemed to have a confessional like quality. The response to the work was positive and Manuel clearly had very strong ideas about what he wanted to convey. Francesco, Antonio and I felt that some editing was needed and perhaps he needed to have some distance from such a personal work. We were impressed by how much he had produced in such a short space of time.
The second student, Gina, presented an interactive installation of hanging fabric in which she had printed an appropriated image of Francis Bacon’s Study after Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X, whose face she had replaced with a well known Mexican priest who had been found guilty of paedophilia. In front of this imaged hung several pieces of meshed fabric which she had painted which obscured the print. Students moved in and out of fabric, exploring the layers and commenting on the movement of the piece and also the image. Gina, later explained that the piece was about the corruption within the Catholic church and covering up by the Vatican. We all agreed that the piece was successful and clearly conveyed her intention. We encouraged her to pursue this line of enquiry and to keep making work with interrogatory.
The final student, Diana, presented an interactive installation of mirrors raised off the floor. We (the females of the group) were handed lipstick and invited to write insults on the mirror. Hanging down from the ceiling were casts of arms which dangled above the mirrors. Willingly the female students approached the mirrors and began writing insults to one another. Diana explained that the work was about how in female bathrooms there are often these exchanges of insults between women wishing violence, commenting on sexual behaviour and appearance. She hoped that by recreating a situation were women have to recall the insults they might have experienced or said to another female, they might begin to question their behaviour. The students agreed with this, but Francesco and I also commented that perhaps it is wider problem that includes men – their attitudes towards women, slut-shaming, sexist behaviour. We also felt the addition of the arms was unnecessary as it did not really add anything to the work.
I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon teaching the students. It was interesting to see what their concerns were and how they approached them. I was also surprised to hear that normally they do not present their work in front of each other but only to their tutor who provides them with written feedback. Francesco, Antonio and I agreed that we thought that it was a beneficial exercise for all the students to speak openly about their ideas and to share their work with one another as it is a more informative experience and enables them to find their critical voice. It was clear to see that all the students wanted to speak and that they were supportive of each other.
