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Materia común [Common Ground]

Ximena Garrido-Lecca and Ishmael Randall Weeks
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Lima (MAC)
Lima, Peru
October 2019 – March 2020

At the dawn of modernity, the Dominican friar Tommaso Campanella dreamed of a city so perfect that its design would correspond directly to the Copernican solar system. Its walls were to be covered with all the knowledge of its time, so that its inhabitants could access this information whenever they wanted. He called this utopia “The City of the Sun”.

A few centuries later, in the very same land of the sun, two of Peru’s best young artists—Ximena Garrido-Lecca (Lima, 1980) and Ishmael Randall Weeks (Cuzco, 1976)—decided to cooperate to construct an ephemeral version of this city, here and now, with the help of the public of the exhibition. Whoever reads this is invited to roll up their shirt, put their feet in the mud and collaborate on the project.

In doing so, the active spectator will find that the mixture that will form this citadel is unique: it is made of magical “black earth” from the town of Chilca (Cañete) and of local newspaper paper pulp. If in the original design the walls contained all the knowledge of their time, here we perceive the critical distance, forged in our era, between information and knowledge.

It is suggested that, from the very materiality of the clay of its construction, that the life of this city is marked in equal parts by the voracious influx of everyday information (sometimes reliable, sometimes false) and esoteric beliefs. In other words, the walls have a kind of magic—a magic that contemporary life also seems to possess—and represent an unleashing of information, which in turn is sedimented to form a collective consciousness and national identity.

Campanella’s design envisions a temple dedicated to the sun in the center of the city. Therefore, for a few months there will be yet another temple of this sort in this country. However, when deciding how to execute this idea, at the very center of the design of their exhibition the artists chose to place a suspicion: will we be able, here and now, to work towards a common ideal? To what extent will we be able to forge, in these following months, all together, the same common ground? To what extent will we be able to forge together, in these following months, the same common ground? And, as is evident, beyond the scaffolding and material deployment of the exhibition, the real matter at its heart is a latent question about the possibility of developing a common utopian project.

It is hoped that by working together in the middle of this magma of magic and information, with their feet in the mud, the public will come to understand that forging a common ground is not a utopia—for this and concrete reality are always made up of the same mud.

José Luis Falconi, Curator

Exhibition Walkthrough

"Materia Común"

2 Videos

Selected Reviews

“The result is fascinating […] In the book the city contains all of the knowledge of the universe in its walls, so the artists provide the audience with newspapers to include in the black dirt of Chilca, inviting visitors to bring tridimensional offerings that they can stick there. […] the staging is spectacular.” Revista Caretas

“In doing so, the active spectator will find that the mixture, with which the tapestries that will form this citadel are made of, are unique, since they are made of magical “black earth” from the town of Chilca (Cañete) and of local newspaper paper pulp. If in the original design the walls contained all the knowledge of their time, here we perceive the critical distance, forged in our era, between information and knowledge.” Artishock

“The installation thus opened up questions about our capacity to forge “common matter” between a wide group of people and, along the way, made clear that we belong to an existing network, a constant cycle of exchange that is reflected in its own materiality. We build everything on earth and with the earth. Our presence, daily exchanges, objects, and ideas also mark that land—a structure made of human and nonhuman matter—written texts, earth, voices, images, and thoughts generated through narration—that account for an integral whole.” Terremoto

Installation Views

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Materia común [Common Ground]
82788212_10156994967321680_6873603576766136320_o

Ximena Garrido-Lecca and Ishmael Randall Weeks
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Lima (MAC)
Lima, Peru
October 2019 – March 2020

At the dawn of modernity, the Dominican friar Tommaso Campanella dreamed of a city so perfect that its design would correspond directly to the Copernican solar system. Its walls were to be covered with all the knowledge of its time, so that its inhabitants could access this information whenever they wanted. He called this utopia “The City of the Sun”.

A few centuries later, in the very same land of the sun, two of Peru’s best young artists—Ximena Garrido-Lecca (Lima, 1980) and Ishmael Randall Weeks (Cuzco, 1976)—decided to cooperate to construct an ephemeral version of this city, here and now, with the help of the public of the exhibition. Whoever reads this is invited to roll up their shirt, put their feet in the mud and collaborate on the project.

In doing so, the active spectator will find that the mixture that will form this citadel is unique: it is made of magical “black earth” from the town of Chilca (Cañete) and of local newspaper paper pulp. If in the original design the walls contained all the knowledge of their time, here we perceive the critical distance, forged in our era, between information and knowledge.

It is suggested that, from the very materiality of the clay of its construction, that the life of this city is marked in equal parts by the voracious influx of everyday information (sometimes reliable, sometimes false) and esoteric beliefs. In other words, the walls have a kind of magic—a magic that contemporary life also seems to possess—and represent an unleashing of information, which in turn is sedimented to form a collective consciousness and national identity.

Campanella’s design envisions a temple dedicated to the sun in the center of the city. Therefore, for a few months there will be yet another temple of this sort in this country. However, when deciding how to execute this idea, at the very center of the design of their exhibition the artists chose to place a suspicion: will we be able, here and now, to work towards a common ideal? To what extent will we be able to forge, in these following months, all together, the same common ground? To what extent will we be able to forge together, in these following months, the same common ground? And, as is evident, beyond the scaffolding and material deployment of the exhibition, the real matter at its heart is a latent question about the possibility of developing a common utopian project.

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It is hoped that by working together in the middle of this magma of magic and information, with their feet in the mud, the public will come to understand that forging a common ground is not a utopia—for this and concrete reality are always made up of the same mud.

José Luis Falconi, Curator

Installation Views
button_1
82788212_10156994967321680_6873603576766136320_o

Materia común [Common Ground]

Ximena Garrido-Lecca and Ishmael Randall Weeks
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Lima (MAC) 
Lima, Peru
October 2019 – March 2020.

At the dawn of modernity, the Dominican friar Tommaso Campanella dreamed of a city so perfect that its design would correspond directly to the Copernican solar system. Its walls were to be covered with all the knowledge of its time, so that its inhabitants could access this information whenever they wanted. He called this utopia “The City of the Sun”.

A few centuries later, in the very same land of the sun, two of Peru’s best young artists—Ximena Garrido-Lecca (Lima, 1980) and Ishmael Randall Weeks (Cuzco, 1976)—decided to cooperate to construct an ephemeral version of this city, here and now, with the help of the public of the exhibition. Whoever reads this is invited to roll up their shirt, put their feet in the mud and collaborate on the project.

In doing so, the active spectator will find that the mixture that will form this citadel is unique: it is made of magical “black earth” from the town of Chilca (Cañete) and of local newspaper paper pulp. If in the original design the walls contained all the knowledge of their time, here we perceive the critical distance, forged in our era, between information and knowledge.

It is suggested that, from the very materiality of the clay of its construction, that the life of this city is marked in equal parts by the voracious influx of everyday information (sometimes reliable, sometimes false) and esoteric beliefs. In other words, the walls have a kind of magic—a magic that contemporary life also seems to possess—and represent an unleashing of information, which in turn is sedimented to form a collective consciousness and national identity.

Campanella’s design envisions a temple dedicated to the sun in the center of the city. Therefore, for a few months there will be yet another temple of this sort in this country. However, when deciding how to execute this idea, at the very center of the design of their exhibition the artists chose to place a suspicion: will we be able, here and now, to work towards a common ideal? To what extent will we be able to forge, in these following months, all together, the same common ground? To what extent will we be able to forge together, in these following months, the same common ground? And, as is evident, beyond the scaffolding and material deployment of the exhibition, the real matter at its heart is a latent question about the possibility of developing a common utopian project.

It is hoped that by working together in the middle of this magma of magic and information, with their feet in the mud, the public will come to understand that forging a common ground is not a utopia—for this and concrete reality are always made up of the same mud.

José Luis Falconi, Curator

Selected Reviews: 

Artishock 

82788212_10156994967321680_6873603576766136320_o

Materia común [Common Ground]

Ximena Garrido-Lecca and Ishmael Randall Weeks
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Lima (Mac) Lima, Peru
October 2019 – March 2020

  At the dawn of modernity, the Dominican friar Tommaso Campanella dreamed of a city so perfect that its design corresponded directly to the Copernican solar system, all its walls were to be covered with all the knowledge of its time, so that its inhabitants could access it whenever they wanted. He called this utopia The City of the Sun.

    A few centuries later, and in the (very same) land of the sun, two of its best young artists, Ximena Garrido-Lecca (Lima, 1980) and Ishmael Randall Weeks (Cuzco, 1976) intend to cooperate between themselves to construct an ephemeral version of it, here and now, with the help of the public of this exhibition. As you hear this: whoever reads this is invited to roll up their shirt, put their feet in the mud and collaborate on the project.

    In doing so, the active spectator will find that the mixture, with which the tapestries that will form this citadel are made of, are unique, since they are made of magical “black earth” from the town of Chilca (Cañete) and of local newspaper paper pulp. If in the original design the walls contained all the knowledge of their time, here we perceive the critical distance, forged in our era, between information and knowledge. It is suggested that, from the very materiality of the clay of its buildings, that the life of this city is marked in equal parts by the voracious influx of everyday information (sometimes reliable, sometimes false) and esoteric beliefs. In other words, their walls have, as seems to have our present life, something of a magic and represent an unleashing of information, which in turn is sedimented to form a collective consciousness and national identity.

    Campanella’s design contemplates on the center of the city a temple dedicated to the sun. There will be, therefore, for a few months, yet another temple of this sort in this country. However, it is evident that, when deciding to concretize it, the artists installed, rather, at the very center of the design of their exhibition, a suspicion: Will we be able, here and now, to work towards a common ideal? To what extent will we be able to forge, in these following months, all together, the same common ground? And, as is evident, beyond the scaffolding and material deployment of it, the real matter of this exhibition is nothing but the latent question about the possibility of developing a common utopian project.

    It is the hope that, with their feet in the mud, and by working together, in the middle of this magma of magic and information, the public will come to understand that forging a common ground is not a utopia, for this and concrete reality are always made up of the same mud.

José L. Falconi, Curator

Selected Reviews: