170 frames, each 9.53H x 3.07W x 1.18D inches
Pedro Reyes’s Los Mutantes ( Mutants , 2012) is composed of 170 plates that combine characters from ancient and modern mythologies. As in a periodic table, animals and objects are combined with humans (male or female), providing a rational framework for the irrational products of human imagination. A Cartesian matrix such as this must follow certain rules. All figures are half-human, half-something. Animal/cartoon characters that speak, such as Fritz the Cat or Donald Duck, are excluded, as well as oddities and chimeras without recognizable human features. Their arrangement results in combinations such as fish plus woman equals mermaid; bull plus man equals minotaur, and so on. The juxtapositions cross figures from pop culture with those from ancient myths, encouraging us to notice similarities between religious icons and comic-book characters. All of these “mutants” reveal something about our desire to extract qualities of animals or objects and empower ourselves with them. Mythologies are a reflection of the paradigms of their time, and this kind of periodic table presents a rational framework to categorize irrational products of the imagination.
Pedro Reyes’s works traverse the worlds of art, film, architecture, design, social criticism, and pedagogy. Educated as an architect, Reyes draws on this training to engage with utopian aspirations and the ongoing legacy of Modernism, often focusing on issues of scale and space while questioning pressing social issues through the incitement of individual or collective interaction. Although only a few of his works are directly located within the practice of building, almost all involve some kind of construction, whether they are objects, models, interiors, or social spaces. Reyes also makes use of strategies developed for communication or education, as well as everyday humor, to engage his audiences. Many of his works either allow large-scale public engagement or suggest a possible use: weapons turned to shovels, multilevel parks in old modernist buildings, and small spherical rooms. Like many avant-garde thinkers of the past, Reyes constructs new forms of architecture necessary for new ways of life.
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Baloji and the Art of Averting the Evil Eye | Contemporary And search for something search C& AMÉRICA LATINA EN FR MEMBERSHIP EN FR Editorial All Editorial Features Installation Views Inside the Library Interviews News Opinions Events All Events Art Fairs Conferences Exhibitions Festivals Performances Screenings Talks / Workshops C& Projects C& Artists’ Editions C& Commissions C& Center of Unfinished Business Show me your shelves! C& Education Mentoring Program Critical Writing Workshops Lectures / Seminars Membership Opportunities Print C& Audio Archive On Tour Places Explore IN CONVERSATION INSTALLATION VIEW WE GOT ISSUES DETOX LABORATORY OF SOLIDARITY CONSCIOUS CODES CURRICULUM OF CONNECTIONS LOVE ACTUALLY OVER THE RADAR BLACK CULTURES MATTER INSIDE THE LIBRARY LOOKING BACK Follow About Contact Newsletter Advertise Imprint Data protection Membership Contemporary And (C&) is funded by: Editorial All Editorial Features Installation Views Inside the Library Interviews News Opinions Events All Events Art Fairs Conferences Exhibitions Festivals Performances Screenings Talks / Workshops C& Projects C& Artists’ Editions C& Commissions C& Center of Unfinished Business Show me your shelves! C& Education Mentoring Program Critical Writing Workshops Lectures / Seminars Membership Opportunities Print C& Audio Archive On Tour Places Explore IN CONVERSATION INSTALLATION VIEW WE GOT ISSUES DETOX LABORATORY OF SOLIDARITY CONSCIOUS CODES CURRICULUM OF CONNECTIONS LOVE ACTUALLY OVER THE RADAR BLACK CULTURES MATTER INSIDE THE LIBRARY LOOKING BACK GO TO C& AMÉRICA LATINA About Contact Newsletter Advertise Imprint Data protection Membership In Conversation Baloji and the Art of Averting the Evil Eye Musician, filmmaker, and multitalented artist Baloji talks to C& about his first feature film and how the diasporic relationship gives access to an imaginary world that breaks free from shackles...
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