Do ut des (I give that you may give back)
2009 - Sculpture (Sculpture)
Mariana Castillo Deball
Do ut des (2009) is part of an ongoing series of books that Castillo Deball has altered with perforations, starting from the front page and working inward, forming symmetrical patterns when each spread is opened. The books belong to O Mundo dos Museus (The World of Museums), a collection conceived by the Brazilian designer Eugênio Hirsch in the 1970s. More than simply a catalogue of artworks, each offers the reader a promenade through a different world museum and its functioning, starting with photo reportage of the building, its urban landscape and architecture, the management and restoration of works, and visitors walking though the galleries. Collaged images of people alongside artworks indicate the works’ dimensions in relation to the human scale. The act of drilling into different institutional representations is a direct intervention into history itself, inviting us to question its representation. The title refers to a Latin phrase that applies to civil law, roughly translating as “I give that you may give back.” This allusion to a form of exchange, negotiation, and reciprocity applies as much to the relationship between the artist and the audience as to that between the artist and the object. The implication that the artist is giving the viewer something so that she will receive something back demands a level of critical reflection and interaction with the work. With these books, Deball infers that history gives these representations to us so that we can detour from them.
The practice of Mariana Castillo Deball (b. Mexico City, 1975) is centered on intensive research. In weaving together perceived facts and legends, the artist deconstructs how we understand tradition, liberating content from imposed ideological legacies. Mariana Castillo Deball’s collaborative research—in particular in the domain of science, geology, archaeology and literature—is manifested and synthesized into her multimodal sculptural practice. The archive is a significant aspect of the artist’s practice, whereby the research conducted in the creation of her sculptures is culminated, catalogued and preserved. Deball is not only interested in traces of the past, her multidisciplinary approach allows her to study the different ways in which a historical object can be read today.
Colors:
Related works sharing similar palette
© » ROYAL ACADEMY
RA Architecture Prize Winner 2023: Shane de Blacam | Blog | Royal Academy of Arts de Blacam and Meagher Architects, Munster Technological University, Cork, 2010 Photo: Peter Cook RA Architecture Prize Winner 2023: Shane de Blacam Read more Become a Friend RA Architecture Prize Winner 2023: Shane de Blacam By Shane O’Toole Published 1 September 2023 Shane de Blacam’s former student, critic Shane O’Toole, celebrates the architect’s thoughtful transformation of public places across his home country of Ireland...
© » FAD MAGAZINE
Empowering the Next Generation of Diverse Leaders with Cultural Leaders Programme - FAD Magazine Skip to content By Mark Westall • 26 January 2024 Share — Culture& and Sotheby’s Institute of Art, in collaboration with Gallery OCA , announce Together We Thrive , a fundraising exhibition for the Cultural Leaders Programme...
© » KADIST
Samson Young
2014In Muted Situations #2: Muted Lion Dance by Samson Young, Chinese lion dancers perform the auspicious procession traditionally presented at special occasions such as weddings or during the Lunar New Year...
© » KADIST
Truong Cong Tung
Truong Cong Tung’s Journey of a Piece of Soil (2013) and its accompanying object-based installation of the same name (2014) consider the function of ritual in larger modes of collective engagement and cultural production...
© » ARTSJOURNAL
Louvre To Hike Admission Price Ahead of 2024 Summer Olympics – ARTnews.com Skip to main content By Tessa Solomon Plus Icon Tessa Solomon Reporter, ARTnews View All December 11, 2023 2:57pm Tourists walk past the Louvre Pyramid, designed by Chinese architect Ieoh Ming Pei at the Louvre museum in central Paris on September 21, 2023...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
Disability Arts: Critical Conversations between South Korea and Singapore | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Viewpoints February 24, 2022 Disability Arts: Critical Conversations between South Korea and Singapore Presented by ArtsEquator, Equal Dreams and Taeyoon Choi Studio Disability Arts has emerged as a powerful and dynamic area of practice within the wider arts and cultural landscape regionally in recent years...