Helicon, 2019
In ancient Greece, Mount Helicon was the home of Pegasus, the winged horse. A tortuous mountain, its name literally derives from the word for ‘helix’, or ‘spiral’, from which we also derive the name of the wind and brass musical instrument known as a helicon, similar to the tuba and predecessor of the modern sousaphone. Starting from this etymological affiliation, Fito Conesa convened a small band of wind and brass instruments in the Sierra Minera de Cartagena-La Unión, in Murcia. Taking advantage of the apocalyptic aspect of the lake created by the waste from mining activities – an area polluted by oxides and yet of great beauty –, Conesa introduced seven musicians of various ages and asked them to play a melody to see if the earth, in response, would detonate the end of the world (and with it, its renewal). A sonic gesture invoking the biblical account of the Apocalypse with its seven mythical trumpets. The drone that records the opening scene places the viewer in the position of Pegasus. The apparent contradiction between the beauty of a toxic scene and the absurdity of the sonic gesture acts as a visual essay on our imminent future.
Technical details
- Original title:
- Helicon
- Registration number:
- AJC.0018
- Artist:
- Conesa, Fito
- Date created:
- 2019
- Status:
- On display
- Fonds:
- MACBA Collection. Barcelona City Council long-term (in process of being incorporated)
- Object type:
- Audiovisual recording
- Media:
- Single-channel video, colour, sound, 6 min 13 s
- Edition number:
- Ed. 1 + P.A.
- Room:
- Meier Building, Level 1
- Credits:
- MACBA Collection. Long-term loan of the Barcelona City Council. Work purchased by the Barcelona City Council through MACBA for the ‘Call for submissions: acquisition of pieces for the promotion of creators of contemporary art’
- Copyright:
- © Fito Conesa
- It has accessibility resources:
- No
The MACBA Collection features Catalan, Spanish and international art and, although it includes works from the 1920s onwards, its primary focus is on the period between the 1960s and the present.
For more information on the work or the artist, please consult MACBA's Library. To request a loan of the work, please write to colleccio [at] macba.cat.
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