Vida y muerte del concepto clásico de utilidad
Action piece by LA COLUMNA DURRUTI
Closing event of the Performance art Biennial (BP.19)
This piece-action is presented as a critical device within a highly codified environment, such as an art biennial. It is developed as the opening event of an exhibit featuring the works of different renowned Argentine artists under the title “Vida y muerte del concepto clásico de utilidad” (Life and death of the classic concept of utility”). The perfromance action follows, on one hand, the lines of thought of American artist Andrea Fraser, and on the other, the scenic-conceptual practice of La Columna Durruti. The purpose is to deconstruct, in an absurd manner, the motivations of the different agents of the cultural-artists sector, together with collectors, gallery owners, curators, directors and spectators, using institutional criticism and a satyrical analysis of the social framework of the world of art, which reveals its internal conflicts, mechanisms and hierarchical structures. It also analyzes the conditioning factors imposed by the market on artistic production (turning it into merchandise) and questions the concept of ”utility” of the product that artists include in this stock market, using a Marxist ans Anarchist protoreading tyipical of La Columna Durruti. Finally, it is deformes to the point of becoming, first, a chaotic disocurse, and later a toxic one that proposes and executes a delirious solution for the dilemma of art vs. market.
Concept and creation
Emilio García Wehbi and Maricel Alvarez
Text
Emilio García Wehbi
Performers
Maricel Alvarez, Martín Antuña, Emilio García Wehbi
General production
Julieta Potenze
Artistic, dramaturgic and production assistance
Martín Antuña
Sound design
Marcelo Martínez
Stage assistant
Vanesa del Barco, Sofía Etchverry, Bernardita Epelbaum, Juan Carlos Prudencio, Andrés Reid, Ileana Telayna.
Photography
Jesús Antuña
Graphic design
Leandro Ibarra
The exhibited works belong to the following artists: Aníbal Buede, Nicola Costantino, Julián d’ Angiolillo, Marina De Caro, Grupo Etcétera, Roberto Jacoby, Nora Lezano, Lux Lindner, Marcos López, Hernán Marina, Marta Minujín, Diego Perrota, Liliana Porter y Ana Tiscornia, Florencia Rodriguez Giles, Mariana Tellería.
La Columna Durruti especially thanks the above-mentioned artists for their selfless and enthusiastic collaboration.