Contemporary Art Tag

MARIO GARCÍA TORRES

COSITAS   ENE.2024 – JUL.2024

COSITAS

Cositas is a conceptual and audiovisual experience experience that takes references from popular culture to question our interpretations of reality.

“I wouldn’t want to say too much. I trust that the materialization of the ideas put forth in these exhibition rooms has the potential to be connected to the most fundamental questions about our lives and their everyday natures. At the center of them lies the one that is related to our interpretation of reality. Which interpretation is the one that is true? The one we’ve been told or the one we build with our thoughts? Small Things is the passage of a certain number of experiences that at one point in the past were only small things; ideas in my mind which held the promise of, in a near future, coming into existence.”

Mario García Torres

Cositas takes its name from a phrase that became popular on open television during the 90s to generate expectations around a future event, and which has currently gained great popularity on social networks without losing its original spirit: “se vienen cositas” (things are coming). Based on this idea, García Torres presents 5 artworks that take as reference a world-renowned comic character – which this year becomes a public domain image -, the song of a popular rock band from the 80s, the aesthetics of the photocopier as a pictorial practice, and memes and videos that today form part of our collective imagination due to their viral circulation on social networks.

With this project, the artist plays with the idea of audiovisual experiences intended for mass audiences, taking into account the particular context in which Arte Abierto finds itself. In this way, Cositas invites us to question the dynamics of consumption today, our role as spectators and co-creators of meaning, and the coincidences that exist between images and everyday life: How is it that a child’s fall can be as relevant as a historical fact? How does a famous comic character allow us to remember so many stories? How can a meme be recreated so many times, becoming increasingly viral for different generations and social spheres? How do these images impact and change language? Or, more importantly, who creates the images? Who defines the concept or who gives them meaning?

Thus, through a game marked by intuition, suspicion, mystery and humor, Cositas addresses the relationships that exist between reality and the perception of our daily lives, the collective imagination and individual memory, as well as the absence and presence of our thoughts.

 

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Works in the exhibition

Yo lo había ponido aquí (I Had Put It Here), s/f
Synthetic material and electrical mechanism

Cayendo juntos en el tiempo (Falling Together in Time), s/f
Video, 15 min

La razón de ser de esta pieza aparecerá lentamente en la medida en que lo permitas (Fuk1ng Amaz1ng), s/f
Printing on ceramic mosaics

El puente de Edgar (You Should Check Out an Old YouTube Video Titled “Edgar Se Cae”), s/f
Fiberglass, resins, and wax

No hay razón para tener miedo (There Is No Reason to Be Afraid), s/f
Video, audio, 4 min

He decidido honrar cada una de las veces en que me leíste y decidiste no reaccionar convirtiéndolas en una linda obra de arte (I Have Decided to Honor Each Time You Read Me and Decided Not to React by Turning Them Into a Beautiful Work of Art), s/f
Offset printing on paper on linen

 

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Visit Cositas by Mario García Torres from Tuesday to Sunday from 12 to 7 pm at Arte Abierto located on the 2nd Artz Pedregal (Periférico Sur 3720, Col. Jardines del Pedregal, CP. 01900 Mexico City).

N4V1D4D 01

Este 2023 iniciamos N4V1D4D, un nuevo programa de Arte Abierto, en el que cada diciembre comisionamos la creación de una obra a un artista para decodificar y jugar con el folklore de la Navidad, las celebraciones del solsticio de invierno y sus códigos.

N4V1D4D busca provocar múltiples reinterpretaciones lúdicas, formales o conceptuales sobre las tradiciones, ironías, anacronismos e imaginarios de la época navideña y sus simbolismos. En esta primera edición, presentamos Árbol destumescente (Caída), de Alejandro Ponce.

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Árbol destumescente (Caída), 2023

Alejandro Ponce

Uno de los orígenes de la tradición del árbol de Navidad como lo conocemos se le atribuye a la celebración pagana de las fiestas de Yule, llevadas a cabo por los antiguos pueblos germánicos para festejar la entrada del solsticio de invierno y al dios Odín. Como en muchas otras culturas antiguas, se le atribuía a la verticalidad de este árbol —originalmente de roble y no de pino— una fuerza eréctil, mágica y vital.

Así como un monolito vertical representa a nivel simbólico y ritualístico la vitalidad y lo trascendental, de forma contraria, un monolito horizontal o en reposo representa una tumba o la decadencia.

A partir de un juego entre lo vertical y lo horizontal, y todos los conceptos que estas dos posiciones engloban, Árbol destumescente (Caída) es un pequeño momento antes de una tragedia, la caída de un árbol navideño hacia la horizontalidad desde un edificio.

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01.DIC.2023 – 07.ENE.2024
Entrada libre
Jardín Arte Abierto | Piso 2 Artz Pedregal

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ALEJANDRO PONCE (Ciudad de México, 1987)
Artista interdisciplinario que trabaja desde medios como la escultura, el arte sonoro, la instalación, el performance, el dibujo y la pintura. Entre sus campos de interés se encuentran el análisis de la memoria profunda, la hipnosis como herramienta de producción artística, el lenguaje del inconsciente, la psicoterapia y el enigma.

IG @milk__of__amnesia__

SENSORY ROUTE

Recorrido por las obras de la Colección Fundación Arte Abierto

Sensory Route is a journey so that people of any age, from children to adults, can approach contemporary art from everyday life and the body, through exercises of observation, interaction and attentive exploration. The intention is to learn about some of the formulas of contemporary art from the works of the Arte Abierto Foundation Collection that are located in the outdoor spaces of ARTZ Pedregal.

Using a sensory map as a guide and the senses of our body, we will explore and reflect on the creation mechanisms of some of the artists that are part of our collection.

Join the tour every Saturday in December at 4:00 pm.

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Artworks from the Arte Abierto Foundation Collection at ARTZ Pedregal:

  • Daniel Buren, The Fountain of Live Colors for Mexico, 2017.
  • Ai Weiwei, Forever, 2013.
  • Tania Candiani, Kiosko sonoro, 2018.
  • Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Corazonadas remotas, 2019.
  • Erick Meyenberg, Things We Do for Love, 2022.
  • Jose Dávila, Joint Effort, 2019.

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  • SAT.DEC.02 | 4:00 pm
  • SAT.DEC.09 | 4:00 pm
  • SAT.DEC.16 | 4:00 pm
  • SAT.DEC.23 | 4:00 pm
  • SAT.DEC.30 | 4:00 pm

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  • Free admission | For all ages (kids and families welcomed).
  • Meeting point: In front of the Joint Effort sculpture by Jose Dávila (PB, ARTZ Pedregal, between the Louis Vuitton and Hermès stores).

UN LIBRO ES…

UN LIBRO ES… AN ENCOUNTER.

With a selection of independent publishers and projects who have explored and played with book formats + Activities for children.

Our gathering and editorial sale, Un libro es… (A book is…) by Arte Abierto, reaches its third edition with a selection of publishers, bookstores and projects focused on the art of the book, with whom we will meet in our garden to talk, celebrate and spread the power of written and visual stories.

In addition, we will have a special selection of books and literature for girls and boys, as well as workshops with Estudio Nómade and a storyteller by the Navegui Bookstore for the young readers.

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SAT.DEC.09.2023
14:00 – 19:30 h
Free admission
Arte Abierto Garden | 2º floor – Artz Pedregal

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PARTICIPATING PUBLISHERS AND PROJECTS

Arte Abierto

Fundación Arte Abierto own seal and editorial line which seeks to reflect on contemporary art practices, based on publications that arise from its own exhibition projects. Through editorial exercises that try to expand the writing of art and put it in dialogue with other disciplines, as well as to think of the book as a space of creation and knowledge, their books delve into the artistic and conceptual proposals of the exhibitions commissioned and are presented specifically for Arte Abierto’s space.

@arte_abierto

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Assouline

Founded in Paris in 1994 by Prosper and Martine Assouline, Assouline is the first luxury brand on culture. It began with the desire to create a new, contemporary style of book, using the couple’s experienced eye for visually rich stories and compelling narratives.

@assouline

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Buen Trabajo

Design and fashion.

@buen.trabajo

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Cafeleería

Read and laugh at Cafeleería.

Cafeleería is a cultural center, bookstore and cafeteria in the Mayor’s Office of Coyoacán, dedicated to the sale, dissemination and activation of unique, original and different books, printed matter and editorial projects from those of large bookstores.

@cafeleeria

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Estudio Nómade

This project emerges during the pandemic as a catalyst for children in confinement. Estudio Nómade proposes to stimulate imagination, creativity and exchange of ideas, through play, speculation and art. They combine visual arts, cinema, theater, literature, illustration and editorial design in order to achieve a novel and playful space, where participants can discover other ways of creating and put it into everyday practice.

@estudio___nomade

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Librería Navegui

Children’s bookstore, illustrated books, stories, album books, graphic pieces for boys and girls, puppets and much more. More than selling books, they share readings.

@librerianavegui

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Ediciones Hungría

Ediciones Hungría is a small independent publisher that has been publishing since 2011 in Mexico City. His projects are a creative and original exploration that plays with book formats and traditional reading.

edicioneshungria.com/

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Miau Ediciones

Independent editorial project focused on feminist publications. Working mainly with female and non-binary and dissident artists, writers, illustrators, editors and creatives. It includes several genres such as theory, politics and social situation, graphics, photography, artist books, among others. “We like to use publications as instruments of dialogue and reflection while collectivizing our editorial practice.”

@miauediciones

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GLACIAR. Libros helados

Yogurt ice cream and independent publications in the San Rafael neighborhood.

@libroshelados

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Fulgencio Pimentel

An independent publisher, originally from Spain and focused on the high-quality edition of fiction, graphic novels, poetry, art books and illustrated books, for all ages. Their policy is to be faithful to artistic principles.

fulgenciopimentel.com/

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MONOMÁNTICO

Notebook publishing house created by Juan José Martín, visual artist and editorial designer, and Hipatia Palacios, artist jeweler and graphic designer. Its products are designed from sustainability, ecology, art and love for Mexico City, as well as the culture of our country. They have two lines: the first is “Unique Notebooks”, made from pages of books, atlases and encyclopedias that we rescue and reuse to make our covers, in this way each notebook is unique; the second is “CDdfMX, notebooks for lovers of Mexico City” made in silkscreen, in runs of 250 copies with detailed attention to the materials used.

@monomantico_design

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MUAC

It is the editorial line of UNAM’s University Museum of Contemporary Art, which publishes the memory and record of the investigations developed for each exhibition project presented by the museum, as well as its critical and historiographical area. Their Folios collection are catalogs with key material and original texts on artists, artistic movements or artistic periods.

muac.unam.mx/

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Piedra Ediciones

Piedra Ediciones is a series of publications that arise from conversation and processes that conceive the book as a space for experimentation for artistic projects, considering the book as an ideal space for collaboration and exchange. Each title becomes a multiple and simultaneous piece that makes new readings possible.

Piedra Ediciones is a project by Alfonso Santiago.

@piedraediciones

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Join us and spend time together between books.

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ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN

EDITORIAL WORKSHOPS FOR CHILDREN

With Estudio Nómade

1. Inventing invisibility.

Have you ever wanted to be invisible? In this workshop, participants explore the effect of invisibility. They will observe what happens in their drawings with the help of glasses, selecting what they want to be visible or invisible.

15:00 – 16:00 h

Children from 5 to 11 years old | Free admission until space is filled

2. Is there anyone there?

Participants create a narrative with the help of magazine clippings, drawings, colors and special ink, in such a way that they become a stimulus to create and imagine a story where some of the characters are ghosts.

17:00 – 18:00 h

Children from 5 to 11 years old | Free admission until space is filled

 

STORYTELLING FOR CHILDREN

With Jacinto and Chala from Librería Navegui

SESSION 1 | 14:00 – 15:00 h

SESSION 2 | 16:00 – 17:00 h

For children of all ages | Free admission

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Un libro es… the perfect way to close 2023.

THE PORTRAIT AND ITS SURROUNDINGS

Photo and drawing workshop for youth with Yvonne Venegas

+ drawing session with Álvaro Verduzco

The renowned photographer Yvonne Venegas will teach a 4-session workshop that aim playing with the relationship between photography and drawing to explore the borders between portrait, advertising and their surroundings.

Seeking in drawing a way to observe the images that surround us, each session will be a combination of drawing exercises and photo practices with natural and artificial light. We will review portrait photography and iconic advertising campaigns, as well as walks and field explorations around Arte Abierto led by the artist, whose work explores the different uses, notions and accidents of portrait photography, from its social and intimate function, to the ambiguity that arises between its planned and unplanned gestures.

The objective of the workshop is to provide each participant with tools to experiment with how vast the portrait genre is and offer a broader thought about what the relationships are like between advertising and the images that surround us.

As part of this workshop, we will also have the participation of artist Álvaro Verduzco for a special drawing session.

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THE PORTRAIT AND ITS SURROUNDINGS
Photography and drawing workshop for youth with Yvonne Venegas

+ drawing session with Álvaro Verduzco

  • FROM THE 27 THE 30.NOV.2023
  • 16:00 – 18:30 hrs.
  • For young people between 15 – 20 years old
  • Pre-registration here | Enrollment limited to 20 participants
  • Recovery fee $500 pesos
  • Arte Abierto | Artz Pedregal

Workshop duration: 4 days

  • SESSION 1 – MON.27.NOV ––– 4:00-6:30 pm
  • SESSION 2 – TUE.28.NOV ––– 4:00-6:30 pm
  • SESSION 3 – WED.29.NOV ––– 4:00-6:30 pm
  • SESSION 4 – THU.30.NOV ––– 4:00-6:30 pm

*No prior experience is necessary. The idea is to work with your cell phone camera or whatever you have. If you have a professional camera, you can also bring it.

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YVONNE VENEGAS (Long Beach, California, 1970)
Photographer and artist, she grew up in Tijuana and currently lives and works in Mexico City. Her work explores the different uses, notions and accidents of photography, from its social and intimate function, to the ambiguity that arises between its planned and unplanned gestures. She has also explored the essential function of portraiture as a photographic genre and the relationships between who looks and who is looked at. She is a graduate of the International Center of Photography in New York and has a Master’s degree from the University of California San Diego. Her work has been exhibited in Mexico, the United States and Spain, among other countries. She has been recognized with the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Magnum Expression Photography Award (awarded by Magnum Photos), and has been a beneficiary of the FONCA National Creators System and the Jumex Scholarship. She has several books published such as Unique Days: The study and its archive (2019) edited by MUAC; Maria Elvia de Hank (2010), Inedito (2012), Gestus (2015), San Pedro Garza García (2019), and The Pencil of Nature (2023), published by RM Editorial, Barcelona.

IG @yvovenegas
yvonnevenegas2.weebly.com/

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ÁLVARO VERDUZCO (Mexico City, 1977)
Artist based in Mexico City. His work is supported by both the smallest piece of paper and large walls, with which she uses the most varied media: from a pencil, collage and video to installation, to name a few). He problematizes the idea of the “phenomenology of drawing” using the mechanisms of memory as his main object of study. He has a degree in Fine Arts from the National School of Fine Arts of the UNAM (1997-2001) and has a postgraduate degree in practical theory at Goldsmiths College of the University of London in the United Kingdom.

IG @alvaroverduzco
www.alvaroverduzco.com/

RAFAEL LOZANO-HEMMER

REMOTE PULSE, 2019

Installation with heart rate sensor board.

Remote Pulse is an interactive installation consisting of two pulse-sensing stations that are interconnected over the Internet. When a person places their hands on one station automatically the persono in the other station feels their pulse, as the plates vibrate in sync with the heartbeath of the remote person, and viceversa. Two lights indicate the hearthbeat of both persons as well.

This piece was originally presented as part of Lozano-Hemmer’s Border Tuner installation across the US-Mexico border, with one station in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and the other in El Paso, Texas. For the exhibition Latidos, the stations were interconnected between Arte Abierto, in Mexico City and the Museo Amparo of Puebla. Now both stations are located in the architectural complex of Artz Pedregal.

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RAFAEL LOZANO-HEMMER

(Mexico, 1967)

Interdisciplinary artist whose work has been focused in developing interactive installations that are at the intersection of architecture and performance. His main interest is to create platforms for public participation, usign technology as a language of our time, and as an inevitable yet questionable vehicle. He was the first artist to officially represent Mexico at the 52nd Venice Biennale. His work has been presented at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA),among other spaces.

COLLECTIVE COOKING SESSION

With Proyecto Garambullo

Guest chef: Cristina Trejo (Comunidad Vista Hermosa, Colón, Querétaro)

Organized by Proyecto Garambullo within the framework of Arte Abierto’s Public Program for the Modthern Nature exhibition by Gabriela Galván, it is an invitation to expand our notion of food in semi-desert territories, landscapes that in the imagination have been presented to us as not very fertile for sustain a varied diet. Contrary to what we have been told about soils such as Pedregal or the semi-desert, we will understand new ways of experimenting with ingredients that are part of the traditional gastronomy of the Querétaro semi-desert while we have an afternoon together, preparing our tortillas, salads and sauces, using ingredients collected from  Modthern Nature’s  exhibition room and sharing a stew made with garambullo sauce.

The foraging cuisine in the Querétaro semi-desert, rooted in nomadic traditions, is connected to the heritage of the cornfield, the basis of Mexican cuisine. It represents solid resistance against the loss of territory and food homogenization. These traditions defy the pressures of modernity and preserve the connection between people and their environment; furthermore, it is a cuisine that testifies to the ability of communities to resist the loss of their natural heritage while sustainably nourishing themselves from the land.

Public Program | Modthern Nature

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COLLECTIVE COOKING SESSION
With Proyecto Garambullo

Guest Chef: Cristina Trejo (Comunidad Vista Hermosa, Colón, Querétaro)

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PROYECTO GARAMBULLO
Based in Colón, Querétaro, Proyecto Garambullo is a multidisciplinary citizen initiative that, through artistic strategies, workshops, residencies, talks, walks, exhibitions, and technology, addresses issues that seek the preservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the area of the Querétaro semi-desert. Likewise, it seeks the respectful recovery and exchange of knowledge, carrying out actions that link this knowledge with the nature and biodiversity of the area. It proposes a change in the way research and knowledge production is understood, to contribute to the current debate on participatory practical research and the validation of creative methodologies for knowledge production.

IG @pgarambullo
www.proyectogarambullo.com/

ERICK MEYENBERG

THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE, 2022

Ceramic sculpture

During a trip to Japan, Erick Meyenberg saw and filmed a chrysanthemum on a Tokyo cementery after falling because of a typhoon. The scence reverberated in the artista due to a personal momento he was going through that made everything around him look fragmented. Thus, from the Japanese philosophy and technique of Kintsugi, which consist of repairing broken ceramics, highlighting the joints to underline their value and beauty despite their fractures, he had the ide of making a sculpture of the dismembered petals of that flower –considered the imperial emblem of Japon–. Meyenberg then thought that the sculpture had to rise from the ground just as Aphrodite rose from the waters; its forms recover the strenght and movement ow water, while its color reflects the love and eroticism embodied by Aphrodite. The Kintsugi metaphor invite to reconize the beauty that exits even in the fragments or breaks that are part of life.

This work represents the first time that Meyenberg works with ceramics. It was conceived specifically for his video-installations Things We Do for Love, commissioned by Arte Abierto, and was produced at Cerámica Suro workshop in Guadalajara.

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ERICK MEYENBERG

(Mexico, 1980)

Interdisciplinary visual artist who sees painting as a fundamental element of expression, although he also explores other media such as sound installation, drawing, collage, video and performance. In his work, he shows a special interest in literature, history, social sciences, and natural sciences. His work has been exhibited in spaces such as Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Museo Tamayo, inSite / Casa Gallina, Biennial of the Americas, Arts University of Berlin, among others.
Representative in the Mexico Pavilion at the 60th Venice Art Biennale (April, 2024) with the project ‘Nos marchábamos, regresábamos siempre’, along with curator Tania Ragaso.

Nos marchábamos, regresábamos siempre, by visual artist Erick Meyenberg with curator Tania Ragasol is the project with which Mexico will participate in the 60th Venice Art Biennale 2024

Arte Abierto congratulates the artist Erick Meyenberg and the curator Tania Ragasol Valenzuela for their participation as representatives of the Mexico Pavilion at the 60th Venice Art Biennale, to be held from April 20 to November 24, 2024, with the project ‘Nos marchábamos, regresábamos siempre’, which addresses the reflection on the immigration asylum that is part of the history of Mexico.
Kudos!

Click here to read the news on INBA’s site.

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Things We Do For Love is a project commissioned by Arte Abierto to visual artist Erick Meyenberg (CDMX, 1980) which was on display from June, 2022 to February, 2023 art Espacio Arte Abierto. Composed of a video installation of 5 channels + 10.2 audio and a series of ceramic sculptures. Under the idea of the Japanese philosophy of Kintsugi, film material made in Japan is interwoven, through editing (Martha Uc), with material filmed later in Mexico, both by Meyenberg. The musical composition and sound design were in charge of RODERIC, which includes the participation of cellist Natalia Pérez-Turner. The sculptures were made at the Suro Ceramic Workshop in Guadalajara.

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AMBIENT TO READ: TEXTURES

Sound action and reading session in Modthen Nature

As part of Arte Abierto’s Public Program that derives from the exhibition Modthern Nature by Gabriela Galván, which approaches different ways of understanding nature and the ecosystem of El Pedregal, Ambient to read proposes a live ambient and reading session within room, inspired by the textures within exhibition.

At Modthern Nature the surfaces are full of textures that can range from smooth to rough, that is why we turn to them to be able to build a bridge between music, reading and the pieces in the exhibition, with their gardens and technologies for sustaining life. For this session, Ambient to read brings together two musicians, Neurokill and Nico to mix a live ambient set, and the artist and poet Rocío Gallardo, who will share poems authored by her and other writers from a fanzine. Additionally, Coffee to Read will share some vessels with us to accompany the session.

As on every occasion, there will be coffee to share. Bring your readings! Welcome!

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AMBIENT TO READ: TEXTURES
Sound action and reading session in Modthen Nature

  • SAT.OCT.14.2023
  • 16:00 – 19:00 hrs.
  • Everyone can join (Adults, teens and kids accompained by an adult)
  • Free admission
  • Arte Abierto | 2nd Floor, Artz Pedregal

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AMBIENT PARA LEER
Is a proposal by Prohibido, Deseo and Café para leer. The three projects come together to offer a space where DJs interested in experimentation prepare a set thinking about various bodily alterations linked to the act of reading. The selection of texts and the setting is carried out by a guest artist per session, who proposes a textual route based on music. Ambient to read is an installation that seeks to tense the party with reading, breaking the cliché that in the first there is no knowledge and that the second only happens in the interior of silence. Interested in working with the decontextualization of spaces: electronic music outside of club culture, reading outside of academia, and art outside of galleries. The effect is always unexpected, however, the intention is to open a threshold so that bodies can be attentive to their surroundings, to the affections of the music and the intensities that all reading fosters.

IG @ambientparaleer

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ROCÍO GALLARDO
Born in Mexico and raised in Buenos Aires. She studied Hispanic Literature at UNAM and Cinema in Argentina. Her aunt taught her the craft of ceramics and she inherited the pleasure and disappointment of poetic writing from her grandfather.

IG @mabel.en.china

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NICO
DJ and producer. After leaving the techno project White Visitation, Nico has strived to avoid the limitations of musical styles. His explorations have ended in labels such as Timedance, Midnight Shift, or his own Akita Club. As a DJ he has performed at Mutek and Boiler Room, and has also managed to be exported to parties such as Pervert MX, Livity Sound in Bristol or Mother’s Finest in Berlín.

IG @nico__dubs

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NEUROKILL
They are a trans boy/non-binary DJ. They began producing music in 2020 and focuses on genres such as hardtechno, acid, psytrance, hardtrance, techno, hardcore, gabber, tribalcore, schranz, groove, industrial, hardtrance, experimental and oldschool, with touches of noise. Founder of BABY RATTA, a brand of parties aimed at the trans and non-binary community in Mexico City.

IG @neurokillkillkill