The Best Job in the World
2021Mixed media installation,
dimensions variable
This project addresses an issue that is often invisible when talking about art and artists. The testimonies that we get to know, through art history and the media, are those associated with a certain success: creators whose hard work and perseverance were rewarded in the form of recognition (whether in life or posthumous). The story of the struggling artist is seductive –and often seen as heroic–, but it also hides the reality of those who are forced to abandon that desire to meet more mundane needs, care for others or as a result of a disenchantment with an art system that is not always pleasant.
This reflection led me to interview eight artists who were active in the Spanish contemporary art circuits since the eighties and who, at one point, decided or were forced to interrupt their artistic production and/or stop participating in the public artistic life: Esther Ibarrola, Alberto Sánchez, Antonio Zúñiga, Joaquín Villa, Luisa Redondo, Miguel Lorente, Sergio Ojeda and Jaume Alcalde.
I edited their voices in an audio piece that is broadcasted through three speakers hidden in the room. The installation emulates a theatre stage that serves to represent their story. The selected objects, coming from our conversations, refer to historic moments, characters, or iconic pieces in art history, in dialogue with everyday objects that allude to a series of myths and obstacles that often interfere in an artistic career.
This project was realised thanks to the support of the Centro de Residencias Artísticas of Matadero Madrid and Fundación DIDAC.
CREDITS:
Installation views of El mejor trabajo del mundo (solo exhibition), Fundación DIDAC (Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 2021)
Images © Roi Alonso
WORKS IN THE INSTALLATION:
Isidoro Varcárcel Medina, La chuleta (1991). Ink on paper. Private collection.
Suso Fandiño, replica of Marcel Duchamp´s Rue de Bicyclette (1913). Courtesy of the artist.
Esther Ibarrola, Yo soy la escultura (1992). Cibachrome, 100 x 70 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Installation views of El mejor trabajo del mundo (solo exhibition), Fundación DIDAC (Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 2021)
Images © Roi Alonso
WORKS IN THE INSTALLATION:
Isidoro Varcárcel Medina, La chuleta (1991). Ink on paper. Private collection.
Suso Fandiño, replica of Marcel Duchamp´s Rue de Bicyclette (1913). Courtesy of the artist.
Esther Ibarrola, Yo soy la escultura (1992). Cibachrome, 100 x 70 cm. Courtesy of the artist.