More concretely, we will critically explore the role played by contemporary art in the visual sedimentation of collective memory, paying special attention to multi-media installations, because of the essential discursive features of this medium, and because of its connections to literature and visual poetry. But there is more. The multi-media installation is an essentially narrative apparatus which occupies a tangible space which is transited by the spectator. This is a defining characteristic of museum exhibitions--artistic or otherwise--so it is not surprising that the strategies of visual narratives developed in multi-media installations--particularly with regard to the use of new technologies--are now becoming narrative tools for the exhibition curator. Nor it is surprising that more and more multi-media artists are being exhibition curators, because, in the end, an exhibition is an installation exponentially magnified.
The workshop will focus on a single concrete project on which all of the participants will collaborate. Using the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives at NYU, we will put together an exhibition project that will highlight this great material, which is largely unknown. We will address two natural audiences for such an exhibition: a U.S. audience, and a Spanish audience. The episode of the international brigades offers a bridge between the recent histories of both countries; additionally, in each country, for different reasons, this episode has been largely silenced.
The end-product of the workshop could be used as a formal proposal to create an exhibition for a U.S. or Spanish audience, or, ideally, for both audiences. In any case, the workship will be a rich interdisciplinary experience, that will lead us to consider important aspects of civil, military, political and cultural history, as they are mediated by contemporary art. We will elaborate a full exhibition prospectus which will be one step away from the production phase.
Francesc Torres is one of contemporary Spain's most prominent conceptual artists. His work as artist and as curator explores the intersections of art, memory and war. He is at NYU as King Juan Carlos I of Spain Professor of Spanish Culture and Civilization in Spring 2006.
His installations have been featured in solo exhibitions at, among other venues: the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gardens, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid; and the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, Mexico.