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Dialogue, Rumour, Light, Hours (or Prototype for Pedagogical Material)
Original title: El diálogo, el rumor, la luz, las horas o (prototipo para material pedagógico)
2005
-2015
Instalación
Dimensions: Variables dimensions
Reference: ACF0556
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El diálogo, el rumor, la luz, las horas (o prototipo para material pedagógico) brings together the main features in the work of Nicolás Paris (Bogotá, 1977), whose open creative processes are based on sharing information and informal learning systems that promote contact between people. In this installation, small objects (coins, coloured pencils, plants…) are laid out on a long table to form a microcosm where the most important thing isn’t the accumulation of objects but the possible interactions that might be sparked between them. The installation opens up a staged, performative dialogue that invites spectators to become directly involved in an unexpected, shared, real-time experience. Paris treats the artistic contents of the piece as powerful visual, sensory and conceptual stimuli, as materials that depend on users in order to acquire specific meanings and interpretations. The exhibition space isn’t an end but the beginning of a path yet to be trodden. The artist’s background in architecture has given him a keen interest in creating spaces in his work, which also features drawing as a key tool for understanding minimal creative gestures. In addition, his previous experience as a teacher in rural schools in Colombia leads him to create a discourse centred on educational strategies, turning the artistic space into a kind of hierarchy-free classroom wide open to sharing experiences. His pedagogical approach borrows heavily from French educational philosopher Joseph Jacotot (1770–1840), who defended the ideas of learning without teachers, where each and every student could learn freely. Acquired by the ”la Caixa” Foundation in 2016, this work was at the heart of the Nicolás Paris show Exercises for Sowing Lightning at CaixaForum Barcelona the following year. This exhibition—whose title encapsulates the artist’s approach to art as the ability to wish for something impossible—also included other pieces by Paris and a series of intuitive ties forged with other pieces in the collection by artists such as Jorge Oteiza, Pablo Palazuelo, Richard Long, Tony Cragg, Victoria Civera, Günther Förg, Joan Brossa and Moisès Villèlia.
