2013-2015
HD single-channel installation video, 32 min, color, sound; Stone; color photograph on cotton paper, black and white print on paper; documents; postcards, silver foil, tape, SD cards; single-channel video, LCD screen, loop; white pencil on black paper, engraved on graphite, pencil on tissue paper.In collaboration with Giuliana Racco. A project curated by Alex Brahim.
Conceived in January 2014 The Artist and the Stone speaks of mobility, citizenship, globalization, desire and constraint, negotiates the twofold movement of a subject (a performance artist) and an object (a 23-tonne block of stone) from the same refugee camp in the south West Bank to Spain.
The project take its origin from In Between Camps (2012) a two-day walk-piece across a stretch of land in Palestine (2012), following the ground embedded stone traces of an ancient Roman aqueduct, built to carry water from a Herodian pool (located in the Hebron area) to the ancient city of Jerusalem. The simple daily practice of ‘taking a stroll’ was extended over an expansive and contended territory as an immersive experience concerning landscape, geography, history, and politics. This search for the ruins from a prior era of colonisation, using a map dating from yet another period of colonialism, was interrupted by the appearance of a giant quarry, literally formed by layers and references to geography and history.
The Artist and the Stone emerged when a performance artist who participated in the trek expressed his desire to travel to Europe in order to develop his artistic practice. Guidi and Racco decided to give form to this tension between desire and restriction, manifested in this simply request by contemporaneously negotiating a double movement: that of the artist (through appeals to official art institutions) and that of another element from – a large block of stone – extracted from a nearby quarry. The Artist and the Stone has evolved as a result of an intense work that has led to exhibitions, round tables and pedagogical activities.
http://theartistandthestone.net/
Exhibited at
- La capacità di muoversi è una delle caratteristiche fondamentali degli esseri viventi, ATTITUDES_spazio alle arti, Bologna (I), Jan 21—Mar 6, 2022; curated by Viviana Gravano- Acte 33: The artist and the Stone. Suñol Foundation, Barcelona, Nov 11, 2015—Jan 23, 2016; curated by Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio- Translocations, Centre d’Art Santa Mónica, Barcelona, Jul 15—Sep 13, 2015; curated by Ramon Parramon.
Concebida en enero de 2014 The Artist and the Stone trata sobre la movilidad, la ciudadanía, el deseo y las obligaciones, dialogando sobre el doble movimiento de un sujeto (un artista performer) y de un objeto (un bloque de piedra de 22 toneladas) desde el campo de refugiados de Arroub (Cisjordania) hasta Barcelona.
El proyecto se origina en In Between Camps (2012), un trabajo sobre una caminata de dos días realizada en Palestina siguiendo las huellas de piedra de un antiguo acueducto romano construido para llevar agua desde un estanque herodiano (ubicado en el área de Hebrón) hasta la ciudad antigua de Jerusalén.
La simple práctica cotidiana de dar un paseo se fue extendiendo en un amplio y disputado territorio, y dio como resultado una experiencia relacionada con la geografía, la historia y la política. Esta búsqueda por las ruinas de una era de colonización anterior quedó interrumpida por la aparición de una gigantesca cantera, literalmente formada por capas y referencias a la geografía y a la historia.
The Artist and the Stone emergió un año después, cuando un compañero – artista y refugiado nativo – expresó su deseo de viajar desde Palestina hasta Europa para desarrollar su práctica artística.
Matteo Guidi y Giuliana Racco decidieron transformar la tensión entre el deseo y las restricciones, manifestadas en esta simple solicitud, contrastando el proceso de su movimiento con el de un objeto con su mismo origen: la piedra. Desde su concepción, The Artist and the Stone ha evolucionado como consecuencia de un intenso trabajo que ha propiciado exposiciones, mesas redondas y actividades pedagógicas.