Primero Estaba el Mar
2012 - Installation (Installation)
Felipe Arturo
Primero estaba el mar ( First Was the Sea , 2012) is a system of equivalences between syllables and silhouettes of waveforms cast in cement. Each waveform represents a syllable of the sentence “Primero estaba el mar.” This sentence is the first verse of the Kogui poem of creation. For the Koguis, an indigenous community from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta on the Colombian Caribbean coast, water was the absolute presence before the creation of the universe. The Colombian writer Tomás González used this phrase as the title of his first novel, in which he narrates the story of a couple in Medellín who, following the anarchic and hippie trends of the 1970s, abandon civilization and move to a solitary beach. Instead of leaving modernity behind, however, the couple becomes a colonizing force, transforming the natural environment of the beach into a rationalized territory. Under the logic proposed by Primero estaba el mar, the variation of the order of the waveforms represents different possibilities for this sentence. The work produces eight different phrases that assimilate the idea of repetition and change; the sentence has eight syllables, and each syllable-waveform is repeated eight times in order to reconstruct the title eight different times, resulting in a total of sixty-four pieces.
Felipe Arturo considers elements from urbanism, architecture, and art in relation to politics, history, geography, and economy. His works and projects often manifest as sculptures, installations, or videos, departing from concepts such as structure, sequence, and matter. They are deeply influenced by vernacular architecture and construction techniques, and reflect processes of assimilation and resistance to colonial and postcolonial processes. He frequently combines the language and materials of Modernism (e.g., concrete) with the informal methods of autoconstrucción (self-construction).
Colors:
Related works sharing similar palette
© » KADIST
Gan Chin Lee
2019In Studies of Chinese New Villages II Gan Chin Lee’s realism appears in the format of a fieldwork notebook; capturing present-day surroundings while unpacking their historical memory...
© » KADIST
Yuki Kimura
2012Kastura (2012) is an installation consisting of 24 black-and-white photographs of the Katsura Imperial Villa in Kyoto bequeathed by Kimura’s grandfather; free-standing structures on which they are hung; and ornamental plants...
© » KADIST
Birender Kumar Yadav
2016Birender Kumar Yadav comes from Dhanbad, India, a city built on its proximity of iron ore and coal and once forested and inhabited by Indigenous people who compose the Gondwana...
© » KADIST
Humberto Diaz
2002The two works in the Kadist collection, Observador Pasivo and 3600 besos por hora by Diaz are culled from a vast compilation of videos and performances for the camera...
© » KADIST
Zach Reini
2015Particularly shaped by his own youth in the 1990s, his recent works have incorporated things like a marijuana leaf, a dragon-emblazoned chain wallet, metal grommets, and the ubiquitous (in the 90s) Stussy symbol...
© » LE MONDE
« L’Art du livre », de Michel Melot et Anne Zali : la splendeur à l’ouvrage Offrir Le Monde Article réservé aux abonnés Reliure originale en soie violette brodée d’or, fleurs et ornements en soie, chiffre de Marie de Médicis et couronne en perles fines, dos long à semé de fleurs de lis dans un encadrement, ruban de gros de Tours parme, avec lisière en dentelle dorée...
© » KADIST
Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe
2019Wateoma husipe / Larvas de oruga / Caterpillar larvae by Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe exemplify his most abstract work, where he choses particular elements of a living organism to create his renditions...
© » KADIST
Colter Jacobsen
2010The title Untitled Passport II was first used by Felix Gonzalez-Torres in an unlimited edition of small booklets, each containing sequenced photographs of a soaring bird against an open sky...
© » KADIST
Robert Zhao Renhui
2014Created during Zhao Renhui’s residency at Kadist SF in 2014, Zhao Renhui began observing and cataloguing insects inspired by the scientific impulse towards exhaustive taxonomy of Sacramento-based Dr...
© » KADIST
Robert Zhao Renhui
2016The photograph Proxy II (Beetles) by Robert Zhao Renhui belongs to a series, titled Christmas Island, Naturally, that focuses on the ecology of Christmas Island; a remote volcanic land formation in the Indian Ocean...
© » KADIST
Colter Jacobsen
2007Victory at Sea is a simple mechanism made from cardboard and found materials that mimics the Phenakistoscope, an early cinematic apparatus...
© » KADIST
Natasha Wheat
2011Wheat’s work is built on a strong conceptual framework that weaves together commentary on social and political issues and the radical potential for change...
© » KADIST
Gan Chin Lee
In Studies of Chinese New Villages II Gan Chin Lee’s realism appears in the format of a fieldwork notebook; capturing present-day surroundings while unpacking their historical memory...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
Orang Phebien: Telling the story of the Baweanese | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Illustration: Hadi Osni August 5, 2020 Lesser known narratives involving migration in Singapore are in the spotlight with The Arts House’ latest edition of LumiNation ...