Emboscadura, 1994-1995
The act of communication provides the focus for Federico Guzmán’s artistic proposals and not so much as an element of analysis but as an experience of feeling. This artist trained in Seville in the 1980s takes up part of the conceptualism of the 1970s filtered through a more subjective poetics. From an explicit decision to establish contact with the public, Guzmán creates situations. The artist understands artistic practice as an intermittent experience forged on different levels that settles and heals. Emboscadura encapsulates these different elements: the work understood as a process, as a situation and as a collective experience of meaning.
It is an installation that reconstructs a school and academic setting in an exhibition context. The chalkboard object is emblematic of a certain community and group communication. Guzmán has made use of this object in previous works. As is common in his other works, the artist does not aspire to determine a meaning or discourse; he opens the possibility to communicate. Moreover, Guzmán assumes that all communication is a disruptive act of intimacy. And as such it must transgress to ensure the efficacy of the social contract. In other works, the artist introduces private elements like his telephone or ID number. This is because the act of communicating is also associated with the conflict between the individual and the social body, or between the public and private spheres.
Technical details
- Original title:
- Emboscadura
- Registration number:
- 0184
- Artist:
- Guzmán, Federico
- Date created:
- 1994-1995
- Date acquired:
- 1996
- Fonds:
- MACBA Collection. MACBA Foundation
- Object type:
- Installation
- Media:
- Wood, paint, white chalk bars, boards, erasers and plants
- Dimensions:
- 274.5 x (mides variables) cm (height x width)
- Credits:
- MACBA Collection. MACBA Foundation
- Copyright:
- © Frederico Guzmán
- 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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