The Best Job in the World
2021

Mixed-media installation, consisting of:
An audio piece (mp3) transmitted in three hidden speakers; 30’04”; a theatre spotlight; a baby cart; a funnel; a hat and a cane, inspired in Joseph Beuys, hanging from a coat rack; a cushion with Vincen Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889) on a sofa bed; a table with a series of publications; on top of a copy of Jacques Rancière’s Proletarian Nights there is a key chain, testimony of a round trip to New York; a fake fall; a custom made wig inspired the Spanish gallerist Juana de Airzpuru; a framed original poster of the first exhibition of Spanish artist Miquel Barceló al Leo Castelli gallery in New York in  1987; an unpublished photograph of the artist Esther Ibarrola entitled I Am th Sculpture (1992); a plinth with the work La chuleta (1991) from the artist Isidoro Varcárcel Medina and a replica of Marcel Duchamp’s readymade Rue de bicyclette.
Dimensions variable.

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Over the course of two years, I conducted research and conversations with artists who were active in Spain from the 1980s onwards—performers, painters, sculptors, conceptual artists—who at some point decided, or were forced, to halt their artistic practice or public presence. Their testimonies —from Esther Ibarrola, Alberto Sánchez, Antonio Zúñiga, Joaquín Villa, Luisa Redondo, Miguel Lorente, Sergio Ojeda, and Jaume Alcalde— are woven into this work.

The installation takes the form of a theatre stage, where their voices are broadcast through hidden speakers, accompanied by objects stemming from our conversations. These elements bring together references to art history and everyday materials, pointing to the myths, challenges, and tensions that shape artistic careers.



[AUDIO] Single-channel version of the audio track in the installation. 28’07”.

Credits:

General installation views and details of the exhibition The Best Job in the World [El mejor trabajo del mundo], Fundación DIDAC (Santiago de Compostela, 2021-2022).
Images: Roi Alonso.
Single-channel version of the audio track in the installation. 28’07”.