Neighbours. Day five
Centre for the Aesthetic Revolution
Pablo León de la Barra (México)
centrefortheaestheticrevolution.blogspot.com
Photo: Fabian Marti’s ‘Two Hotel’
There’s no more centre. The centre is everywhere. You are the centre. The centre is happening in the place where you are located. Create your own centre.
In the XVI century, Italian monk and philosopher Giordano Bruno affirmed “In the Universe, no centre and no circumference exist, but the centre is everywhere… Each world has its centre”, because of this he was burned by the inquisition. In another line of thought, at the beginning of the XXI century French philosopher Jacques Rancier concluded “There exists a specific sensory experience—the aesthetic—that holds the promise of both a new world of Art and a new life for individuals and the community.” Rancier relates this thought to an affirmation Shiller makes at the end of the fifteenth of his ‘Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Mankind’ where he declares that “Man is only completely human when he plays”. Following both this arguments, The Centre for the Aesthetic Revolution, regains playfulness as an aesthetic tool for revolution, and contests the prevalence of hegemonic centres of aesthetic control (New York, London, Berlin, etc), and their media vehicles (Frieze, Artforum, etc), in order to create a much more complex network of relationships, people, artists, exhibition and thought that goes beyond the traditional filters of artistic validation and beyond limiting regional and national representations, but also against international homogenization in an attempt to localize singularities and differences. The Centre for the Aesthetic Revolution is a blog, a travelogue, a diary of impressions, a history of recent exhibitions happening elsewhere beyond the official centres, a network that connects similar sensibilities.
Espacio Común
Michelle Gratacós Arril (Puerto Rico)
facebook.com/espaciocomunelfalansterio
Photo: Revista Area, Spring 2014. Puerto Rico
Espacio Común, recalls issues of gathering and common space, and architecture symbolic of socialist order and made little use of in the capitalist-ridden Island of Puerto Rico. The objective of this project is to induce a sense of shared ownership and responsibility towards the maintenance and upkeep of this historical building amongst the inhabitants and users of the space, and with that, feelings of self-determination.
Espacio Común, in an effort to reach it’s goal, has ideated “Adopta una silla”– an economic system that supports the restoration of rescued chairs and the fabrication of new chairs based on the original design of the chairs and cushionings. The chairs that are being rescued are typical designs that in the 50’s inhabited most balconies on the Island of Puerto Rico.
Buró de Intervenciones Públicas –BIP-
Stefan Benchoam and Christian Ochaita (Guatemala)
cargocollective.com/bipbip
The Buró de Intervenciones Públicas (BIP) is a collaborative project by Stefan Benchoam and Christian Ochaita that originated as a direct response to the lack of public spaces and infrastructures for recreation and socialization in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Their work incorporates various elements of architecture, art, design, and urbanism, hoping to modify the way in which citizens relate with the open spaces of their cities.
Their projects encourage the use of public spaces through playful elements and unusual occurrences, to critically address the widespread criminalisation of citizens basic rights to gather in the public space during Guatemala’s violent civil war (which officially lasted thirty six years).
Additionally, BIP’s interventions can be read as Situationist gestures that generate reflection and debate about their city, and are often times developed through their collaboration with other artists, collectives and people in general. Each one is presented as a viable solution to the lack of initiative from the municipal and central government agencies.
Junta
Ignacio Mallol, Ramón Zafrani y Johann Wolfschoon (Panamá)
junta.com.pa
Photo: Pilar Echezarreta Installation, Mundo Minúsculo, Espacio Junta.
JUNTA is a platform that intends to generate dialogue, interaction
and confrontation of ideas through exhibition, talks, workshops and events
that compliment architectural, cultural and social heritage.
We focus on an innovative approach towards architecture, art and design.
We look to expand awareness, as well as to drive the development
of contemporary architectural discourse.
JUNTA aims to be an active and permanent channel of communication
that promotes the engagement of professionals, students, organizations, educational entities, artists and community members.
We are a public space open to thought, expression and discussion.