In Karl Erik Schollhammer’s essay “ A Walk in the Invisible City” the reader is introduced to Francis Alys, a Belgian artist who works in Mexico and attentively observes and collects ephemera related to social, political and economic issues in Latin America. The title of the essay alludes to this need for Latin American countries to have a sense of unity where there is a multiplicity of cultures and socioeconomic disparities. Alys use of the urban space as his forum allows for a focus on the “urban reality.” Alys states, “Perhaps there is no way to recover the mental control over the urban space, no way to map the totality of the city in its chaotic dynamics, but by focusing on the center, Alys goes against the currents of history that have reduced the center of the city to a “historic” center, a place of dramatic melancholy, a territory of public neglect, that has been abandoned by the city planners for half a century.” (Schollhammers) Alys interest in interventions in the urban spaces, specifically in location like El Zocalo, seek to reframe the reality of limiting an entire history to one area. He insist in creating unity using his performances and “interventions” as a tool and has developed a dialogue about issues that perhaps were once unseen internationally and even in Latin America.I can't help but feel a little bit uncomfortable with some of the terms Schollhammer uses in his essay to describe Alys work. The use of the word “intervention” leads me to think of colonization and although I understand Alys is aware of these possible negative connotations its hard to ignore it. There is always going to be this question of validity, does Aly have an advantage or even a disadvantage for being a extranjero? Are his experiences different from the experiences of a native? and does that even really matter?
Don't we all know about traffic? Urban sprawl? The effects of having a large population in a congested area? Well, in the article "A Walk in the Invisible City" by Karl Erik Schollhammer, Schollhammer relays the significance of Belgian artist Francis Alys's work and his exploitation of the over-populated city--Mexico City.
Firstly, my initial thought while reading this article was the popular tale of "Hansel and Gretel" by the Brothers Grimm. In his two works" Paradox of Praxis" (1997) and "The Leak" (1995) Alys leaves a trail, "a misty trail in the dirt," (pg. 144) and "a trail back to the gallery space." Alys's breadcrumbs if you will. I then realized that the tale may not simply touch on the "ideas" of Alys's work but also within the subtext. By juxtaposing the characters in the story to Alys, we can see a foundation. Alys = Hansel, the public = Gretel, and lasty urbanization = the wicked witch. Schollhammer, states in the article that "[...] a way of reinventing the voyage of discovery in the city where traveling has become a daily challenge of endurance for millions." Proving, that the streets that once seemed so familiar have now changed so drastically. That the walk you once made to work is no longer perfunctorily, it is victory. A victory made against the witch.
Which is why I believe Alys' art brings us back home. It serves to awaken us a provide us with the tools to be able to get back. Also like Odysseus and the Minotaur; a way to fight the beast, and return to safety. These tools are to reclaim the city, reclaim your freedoms. Walking to work, to school, to your home shouldn't be making a socioeconomic statement, nonetheless serve as a victory against violence, it should be what it is--a walk. I believe that this artist is making his voice heard against the urban sprawl (the beast/witch) and trying to draw attention to the public, to fix what has been abandoned by city planners and government officials.
Francis Alys in my eyes, is in fact a performance artist.
In Karl Erik Shollhammer's article entitled "A Walk in the Invisible City" the reader gets a glimpse into the work of Francis Alys a Belgian artist living in Mexico City. I personally was able to relate to Alys main focus of exposing the "urban reality" in Mexico City. Fresh in from New York I also experienced this disconnection between New Yorkers and their environment. Additionally, there was the same social segregation in New York that Shollhammer discussed happening in Mexico City. The slight difference between the two cities is that although New York continues to evolve they continue to cherish the historical aspects of the city. Maybe not always taking a minute to stop and enjoy what the city offers, but at least making sure it is preserved and sustained. Alys interventions create awareness to Mexico Cities constant struggles of disunity between Mexico City and the people who live there. Many of Alys interventions take place at El Zocalo which is at the Center of Mexico City. It is a place where old Mexico meets new Mexico. The fact that Alys uses this area of the city as a focal point in his work is important to his concept. Shollhammer states, "Alÿs goes against the currents of history that have reduced the center of the city to a “historic” center, a place of dramatic melancholy, a territory of public neglect, that has been abandoned by the city planners for half a century" (147). Francis Alys interventions might be a small drop in a very large bucket considering the endless issues Mexico continues to face, but creating awareness is the first step.
Schøllhammer’s Article about Francis Alÿs brings up some interesting points about performance art in regards to the urbanization of Latin America. This idea of the four main layers within the Mexican Capital is an intriguing look at the modernization of Mexico City. Historical echoes sentiments of the city and the forth layer, imaginary city, speaks upon the simulacra of cultural and historical representations that “give rise to a city without clear borders or frontiers... and a simultaneous experience of distinct historical levels in pre-modern, modern, and post-modern references as an archaeological landscape to be explored and reinvented” (144). Through his performance work, Alÿs explores the streets of this multi-layered cultural and social representation, questioning urban concepts and intervening spaces where the public, the private and art making collide. Schøllhammer makes an interesting statement about inhabitants and how they fetishize parts of the city and landmarks with historical significance. “This flexibility of the symbolic dimension explains its magnetic attraction to human action; the inhabitants are searching for some kind of interaction with the most significant historical parts of the city and populate these spaces with great enthusiasm” (147). Perhaps Alÿs is guilty of this also? Or maybe Alÿs and the city’s inhabitants are not guilty, but victims of modernist power and knowledge utilized not through coercion, but through the subtleties of the disassociation of urbanization. Alÿs’ performances attempt to communicate with the city and its needs by raising urban issues of the city’s modern disassociation. Where do we find ourselves in a city devoid of identity and separated from the other towns in the periphery? Does history become fetishized and end up being a spectacle? Alÿs plays with ideas of disassociation in his project titled, 1-866-Free Matrix. Acknowledging the digitalization of human interaction, Alÿs uses automated telephone systems to create “a virtual walk into virtual space” (147). By asking callers for certain actions and giving certain options, Alÿs confronts these ideas about the “invisible city”. Callers/inhabitants may have the knowledge, but Alÿs/Politicians have the power. Just enough choice is given to make a statement about what freedom truly means in a modern city while also proving that human interaction is paramount to a truly functional city, not just an imaginary one. I wonder though, if these performances in Mexico City speak enough about urbanization as a whole. What about the other towns just outside of the city? Is there a way that an artist can reconnect a city with its history, culture and people? If so, what is the validity of an outsider doing that? Or maybe it’s as fruitless as moving a mountain 10 cm from its original location.
In Karl Erik Schollhammer’s essay “ A Walk in the Invisible City” the reader is introduced to Francis Alys, a Belgian artist who works in Mexico and attentively observes and collects ephemera related to social, political and economic issues in Latin America.
ReplyDeleteThe title of the essay alludes to this need for Latin American countries to have a sense of unity where there is a multiplicity of cultures and socioeconomic disparities. Alys use of the urban space as his forum allows for a focus on the “urban reality.”
Alys states, “Perhaps there is no way to recover the mental control over the urban space, no way to map the totality of the city in its chaotic dynamics, but by focusing on the center, Alys goes against the currents of history that have reduced the center of the city to a “historic” center, a place of dramatic melancholy, a territory of public neglect, that has been abandoned by the city planners for half a century.” (Schollhammers) Alys interest in interventions in the urban spaces, specifically in location like El Zocalo, seek to reframe the reality of limiting an entire history to one area. He insist in creating unity using his performances and “interventions” as a tool and has developed a dialogue about issues that perhaps were once unseen internationally and even in Latin America.I can't help but feel a little bit uncomfortable with some of the terms Schollhammer uses in his essay to describe Alys work. The use of the word “intervention” leads me to think of colonization and although I understand Alys is aware of these possible negative connotations its hard to ignore it. There is always going to be this question of validity, does Aly have an advantage or even a disadvantage for being a extranjero? Are his experiences different from the experiences of a native? and does that even really matter?
Don't we all know about traffic? Urban sprawl? The effects of having a large population in a congested area? Well, in the article "A Walk in the Invisible City" by Karl Erik Schollhammer, Schollhammer relays the significance of Belgian artist Francis Alys's work and his exploitation of the over-populated city--Mexico City.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, my initial thought while reading this article was the popular tale of "Hansel and Gretel" by the Brothers Grimm. In his two works" Paradox of Praxis" (1997) and "The Leak" (1995) Alys leaves a trail, "a misty trail in the dirt," (pg. 144) and "a trail back to the gallery space." Alys's breadcrumbs if you will. I then realized that the tale may not simply touch on the "ideas" of Alys's work but also within the subtext. By juxtaposing the characters in the story to Alys, we can see a foundation. Alys = Hansel, the public = Gretel, and lasty urbanization = the wicked witch. Schollhammer, states in the article that "[...] a way of reinventing the voyage of discovery in the city where traveling has become a daily challenge of endurance for millions." Proving, that the streets that once seemed so familiar have now changed so drastically. That the walk you once made to work is no longer perfunctorily, it is victory. A victory made against the witch.
Which is why I believe Alys' art brings us back home. It serves to awaken us a provide us with the tools to be able to get back. Also like Odysseus and the Minotaur; a way to fight the beast, and return to safety. These tools are to reclaim the city, reclaim your freedoms. Walking to work, to school, to your home shouldn't be making a socioeconomic statement, nonetheless serve as a victory against violence, it should be what it is--a walk. I believe that this artist is making his voice heard against the urban sprawl (the beast/witch) and trying to draw attention to the public, to fix what has been abandoned by city planners and government officials.
Francis Alys in my eyes, is in fact a performance artist.
In Karl Erik Shollhammer's article entitled "A Walk in the Invisible City" the reader gets a glimpse into the work of Francis Alys a Belgian artist living in Mexico City. I personally was able to relate to Alys main focus of exposing the "urban reality" in Mexico City. Fresh in from New York I also experienced this disconnection between New Yorkers and their environment. Additionally, there was the same social segregation in New York that Shollhammer discussed happening in Mexico City. The slight difference between the two cities is that although New York continues to evolve they continue to cherish the historical aspects of the city. Maybe not always taking a minute to stop and enjoy what the city offers, but at least making sure it is preserved and sustained.
ReplyDeleteAlys interventions create awareness to Mexico Cities constant struggles of disunity between Mexico City and the people who live there. Many of Alys interventions take place at El Zocalo which is at the Center of Mexico City. It is a place where old Mexico meets new Mexico. The fact that Alys uses this area of the city as a focal point in his work is important to his concept. Shollhammer states, "Alÿs goes against the currents of history that have reduced the center of the city to a “historic” center, a place of dramatic melancholy, a territory of public neglect, that has been abandoned by the city planners for half a century" (147). Francis Alys interventions might be a small drop in a very large bucket considering the endless issues Mexico continues to face, but creating awareness is the first step.
Schøllhammer’s Article about Francis Alÿs brings up some interesting points about performance art in regards to the urbanization of Latin America. This idea of the four main layers within the Mexican Capital is an intriguing look at the modernization of Mexico City. Historical echoes sentiments of the city and the forth layer, imaginary city, speaks upon the simulacra of cultural and historical representations that “give rise to a city without clear borders or frontiers... and a simultaneous experience of distinct historical levels in pre-modern, modern, and post-modern references as an archaeological landscape to be explored and reinvented” (144).
ReplyDeleteThrough his performance work, Alÿs explores the streets of this multi-layered cultural and social representation, questioning urban concepts and intervening spaces where the public, the private and art making collide.
Schøllhammer makes an interesting statement about inhabitants and how they fetishize parts of the city and landmarks with historical significance. “This flexibility of the symbolic dimension explains its magnetic attraction to human action; the inhabitants are searching for some kind of interaction with the most significant historical parts of the city and populate these spaces with great enthusiasm” (147). Perhaps Alÿs is guilty of this also? Or maybe Alÿs and the city’s inhabitants are not guilty, but victims of modernist power and knowledge utilized not through coercion, but through the subtleties of the disassociation of urbanization. Alÿs’ performances attempt to communicate with the city and its needs by raising urban issues of the city’s modern disassociation. Where do we find ourselves in a city devoid of identity and separated from the other towns in the periphery? Does history become fetishized and end up being a spectacle?
Alÿs plays with ideas of disassociation in his project titled, 1-866-Free Matrix. Acknowledging the digitalization of human interaction, Alÿs uses automated telephone systems to create “a virtual walk into virtual space” (147). By asking callers for certain actions and giving certain options, Alÿs confronts these ideas about the “invisible city”. Callers/inhabitants may have the knowledge, but Alÿs/Politicians have the power. Just enough choice is given to make a statement about what freedom truly means in a modern city while also proving that human interaction is paramount to a truly functional city, not just an imaginary one.
I wonder though, if these performances in Mexico City speak enough about urbanization as a whole. What about the other towns just outside of the city? Is there a way that an artist can reconnect a city with its history, culture and people? If so, what is the validity of an outsider doing that? Or maybe it’s as fruitless as moving a mountain 10 cm from its original location.