The Option of the Spiral

by Ana Giselle Robaina Anc'zar

There are certain works of art whose destiny, like that of the meteorites, is to cause a great commotion; their sign is one of transgression of relationships of power and also the subversion of the categories established by theory and advocated by the critics. This type of work originates a radial, centripetal, system of signification, whose effusion is generally decisive in the diachronic structuring of art history. Nevertheless, there is also the alternative of an artistic production that is more moderate in its scope, which, sometimes based on the use of trivial elements, generates meanings that spread in a spiral movement. If we understand this expansion as an allegory of improvement, we will note how from a point in space there emerges a structure whose nature is to follow an ascending trajectory, remitting one to progress. The work of Juan Carlos Peirone can be inscribed within the later option. Upon analysing it, it is possible to observe recurrent anthropological and psychological motivations and only in appearance do these works possess a transcendental character, even though the artist tries to reconcile man with himself and his surroundings. His work emphasizes objects, actions and processes that integrate the everyday dimension of the individual. Consequently, to find the magic essence of a series of reactions that constitute ÒtediumÓ is the ultimate goal of an important part of his work, which is concerned with the neutral points of the vital curve of the human being. That is to say, those days when nothing worthy of annotating in a diary occurs and which nevertheless, fill up the majority of calendars. The improvement of these neutral points in human existence materializes in the spectators after an extraordinarily unique process that takes place perhaps at a subconscious level in the artist. Jonas structures his context. First of all he squares out his landscape and then proceeds to enlarge a grid. This practice repeats itself in each new piece. The enlarged grid is no more than one of the aforesaid neutral points or irrelevant fragments in the individualÕs life curve. The example represented by the totality of this diagramming and enlargement process is embodied in his project ÒFar from where?Ó This artist proposes to construct an indefinite number of sculptures he calls ÒmarkingsÓ, in the shape of bread ovens in different sites worldwide, as far apart as possible from one and another and diametrically opposite to each other, like cardinal points. The first has been located in MOErtenstorget in the city of Lund, Sweden, country where this Argentinean artist has lived for the past twenty years. It is evident that this small white dome that intercepts the passer-by alludes to fire as vital energy and certainly to bread as the human nourishment par excellence. On the other hand, the oven is completely usable from a practical point of view, it is not the parody of a bread oven, and it is really that. However, it is unlikely that it will be seen as anything other than a work of art. The barrier to functionality imposed on an object created for contemplation is almost impassable. One consolation remains. Even though the artist may not be able to transgress the splits imposed by the functions of art, in an orthodox sense, it has at least managed to exceed the boundaries of its context. The victimizing subjacent in denominations such as center and periphery, the philanthropy that summarizes an optimistic analysis of the concept of Global Village and the difference between country of origin and country of residence have been overcome. His work makes a reference to the assimilation of surroundings that also belong to him, assuming his permanence in it with full knowledge of the risks that is implicit in this attitude. Presumably for this same reason it is that the phenomenon of human communications has also found a space in the plastic production of this artist. Then, can sign systems be considered as the next enlarged grid? For several years now, that part of his work that has been exhibited in traditional distribution and consumption circuits reveals a fascination with the sign per se. The coding-decoding process has been assumed and recreated in all its variants, from the de-functionalising of everyday life objects reproduced in bronze or the juxtaposition of signifiers ranging from I Chin symbols, representations of chromosomes and archaic alphabets to the utilization of thousands of newspapers which, piled up, imitate the furniture of a living-room, imitating even the classic comfort represented by the television set placed before the sofa. All this induces a signification that is in a sense playful and also paradoxical. The newspapers, for example, bearers of information, become potential carriers of the ideo-aesthetic messages that the artist may wish to transmit. Communications are amplified to a maximum starting from a premeditated process of diversification of the aesthetic strata. In that sense, the gallery becomes a space whose boundaries respond to the concept of Òenvironments,Ó which even though it might have anthropological connotations, it nevertheless remits to a denial of this genre of meanings, as this room is not for human beings. Instead, it seems to have been created for George SegalÕs plaster characters. These ultra-white, inanimate, distant beings are trapped in the eternity of the positions in which they were conceived. Their facesÑsomewhat fearfulÑperhaps await their definitive scenography. Have they found it? In any case, both artistsÕ aim to draw viewersÕ attention to the risks that civilization imposes on the individual, of which isolation is one of the most notable, and the attempt, in the case of Jonas, to overcome this isolation on the basis of such a specific action such as is his own artistic work. This action implies the spiral effect originally attributed to his work, sober in terms of plastic resources, but inevitably polysemous.

Ana Giselle Robaina Anc'zar, La Habana, 3 de Octubre de 1994.

Translation: Paul Beuchat