Against a backdrop of an ever-increasing glut of images whose qual- itative properties are progressively being replaced by quantitative ones, it is pressing to undertake an analysis of the anthropological and cultural structures on which it is sustained. With this goal in mind, FOTONOVIEMBRE takes its title from the word kenosis, etymo- logically derived from the Greek κενό, -empty- but based on the use Jacques Derrida made of it. The philosopher used the term to speak about the archive and photography as cenotaphs of something that has happened and that no longer exists. Inasmuch as the preservation of something lost, the image is presented through an act of emptying that can divest itself of the very apparatus on which it is sustained.
The proposal of Kenosis is based on three images: the rst is the USS Maine Sinking in Havana Harbour (1898); the second shows the poet Domingo López Torres beside André Breton, Jacqueline Lamba and Benjamin Péret during their visit to the Canary Islands in 1935 and the third is a still of Conical intersection (1975) by Gordon Matta-Clark. The represented and its contrary are contained in all three, so much so that the historical narrative that follows the images actually erases what they wished to signify. If the images are cenotaphs, then we are forced to ask ourselves questions like: What exactly is the corpse? What remains in the image? How do narratives resist the emptying of the image? To make up for their emptiness, the spectator must continuously resignify what he or she sees.
The Atlántica Colectivas (Collective Atlantics) section continues its mission from previous Fotonoviembre events, showcasing works from a number of art practitioners in various venues around the island. The goal of the exhibition is to decentralise the biennial and extend its programme to the rest of the island, a remit made possible thanks to the direct involvement of the artists and to the collaboration of the galleries and organisations who are lending their spaces.
Despite its openly heterogeneous nature, this edition of Atlántica Colectivas has an underlying theme that connects the various shows. Apart from their purely technical and stylistic exploration of the medium, the works on exhibit share an interest in representation with the subject matters of the images examining the social conventions and institutions that construct the visual identity of the subject.
august, 2018
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