WORK PORTFOLIO ALEJANDRA MÉNDEZ
Artist Statement
As an artist, I work using architecture and interaction. The use of technology like 3D modeling, rendering, laser cutting and 3D printing are tools I use to explore scale, proportions and design in the artistic develop of spaces.
My goal is to create elements that are open for interaction, whether is with people or nature, to create spaces and interventions that allows movement, change and communication.
I aim to research how materials and technology affects the interaction we have with space.
BUILT PROJECTS
GROSSRAUM EXHIBITION Master project, as part of the studies for the Master degree in Fine Arts in Scenography.
How much of it you want to see?.
This is the spatial concept of the exhibition. How much you want to know, how committed are you to open your eyes, will you make the decision, the effort.
Exhibition at the Norsk Teknisk Museum, that deals with Forced Labour in Norway during World War II, while the German occupation. The exhibition consist of 250 m2 of intervention in the fourth level of the Museum of Technology. The exhibition is been divided in 5 rooms, the first room was developed as a workshop part of the studies for the Master degree. Alejandra is in charge of design of the exhibition, and was a co designer of the first room and is now revised by her.
MA Project is being developed as the design of an exhibition, that is as well in a relationship between research and space, working since the beginning from and with the narrative of the Research's work. Through a series of workshops, organized by the student, in which the three main elements of the exhibition, research, design and construction, collide and present to each other ideas, materials and necessities. This has allowed the student to explore forms, materials and spatial sensations, in a subject that deals with historical facts, but remains a current discussion of mobilization, working conditions, bureaucracy and technology.
Through the process of the exhibition the student has been in charge of development of the design, production of visual representations of the exhibition, organization of workshops with the research and construction group, production of material test and samples at the laboratory, development of scale models, technical drawings and supervision of construction.
GROSSRAUM EXHIBITION PROJECT: Museum Exhibition at the Norsk Teknisk Museum, about the Research Project Politics of Space. AREA: 400 M2 ROLE: SCENOGRAPHY DESIGNER. PLACE: Oslo, Norway DATE: February 2017
A night and day theater is an urban installation, that is composed of a small, constructed space which creates an immediate relation between the inside and the outside, and the light condition, whether it is natural or artificial. The space is be a cube, with movable internal panels, that can be moved and control by users, this change of position lets the light come inside or outside. During the day, the inside space is lit up by natural light, that comes through the free spaces between the movable panels, while at night, artificial lighting is placed inside, and the space function as a urban lamp, letting the light escape to the surroundings.This urban installation is site specific work and a participative element, in and through which users have the ability to control the light inside and outside, changing both private and public space, and taking advantage of natural light, connecting the inside stage to the outside stage.
A NIGHT AND DAY TEATER PROJECT: Urban Installation for the Festival the House and the Lights. AREA: 12 M2 ROLE: DESIGNER. PLACE: Fredrikstad, Norway DATE: September 2016
Workshop from NTA, which consisted in the development of an Urban Installation at ZhDK in Zurich.
Stolperfalle, point at me where is ok to sit.
“The students used to be spread out around the city, in different buildings, going to class and then back home or to their studios, and they keep acting the same way.” “The building behaves like a small city.” “The central stairs represents a boulevard.”
These were three comments that I heard during the workshop, which became for me a starting point. I like to think that a Boulevard is a main walking street, in which activities, both specific and spontaneous happen. Storperfalle is a project about reprogramming the main activity of a stair, which is vertical circulation, and connecting this reprogramming with the concept of the boulevard. This intervention consist in the construction of non semiotic elements(chairs, sofas, etc.) that will be placed along the stair, to frame spaces for different activities to appear. A place to stay, and a place to walk, a place to have small meeting. A place that will make the transition between the private (art school specific activities) spaces and the public (circulation) spaces smoother and softer. To offer users the possibility to stay, to walk slower, to change the speed, to find places to communicate. This construction consist in a movable, large steps, in which the modularity of which allows it to change the space according to different needs and conditions, several steps can be added together and create a much larger and diverse space, they can be organized to function as a stage or a sitting area, or small meeting places spread out on the stairs. In the concept of the boulevard, this items will be the small parks, the little spot, where people sit to eat an ice cream.
STOLPERFALLE PROJECT: installation project part of the research project “Sensory Hacking” at the University of Arts in Zürich, ZhDK. AREA: 10 M2 ROLE: DESIGNER. PLACE: Zürich, Switzerland DATE: April 2016
EXPLORING ARCHITECTURE Installations for the Open Museum of Norwegian Folklore in Hadeland. Jaren, Norway. Exhibition at the Hadeland Folkemuseum in Jaren, that deals with an Open air museum of Norwegian folklore in the region of Oppland. The exhibition consist interventions and a master plan to make the museum more inclusive and interesting to visitor. The project is on going until December 2017 and consist of two parts, the first one consist of summer interventions and pieces in the museum using architecture to engage visitors to explore and take a closer and deeper look to the houses exhibited in the Museum. The second part is a grand Master plan how to apply strategies and interventions around the museum. Using architecture as the initial motor of the interventions, some of the works made consist in adding alien elements to the space as well as taking pieces out of their context. Sketching on real architecture, giving technical information as part of the installations, rebuilding and replacing existing architecture, sounds and light are some of the interventions planned and made for the summer.
ARCHITECTURE OF OPEN AIR PROJECT: Interventions at the Hadeland FolkeMuseum. Open air Museum. AREA: 30 M2 ROLE: DESIGNER. PLACE: Jaren, Norway DATE: September 2017
JUBILEE INSTALLATION AT DNT(Norwegian Theater) This project was made while working as a junior architect at Expology, a company of interaction design and exhibition design. The task was to tell the story of the 100 years of history of the Norwegian theater, through the changes of building the theater has had over the years. This installation has 5 boxes with interactive stories inside related to the building and architecture of the theaters.
DNT JUBILEE INSTALLATION PROJECT: Collaboration with Expology. Installation at DNT(The Norwegian Theater) for the celebration of the 100 years of the Norwegian theatrerJubilee AREA: 4 M2 ROLE: SCENOGRAPHY DESIGNER. PLACE: Oslo, Norway DATE: August, 2018.February 2017
unBUILT PROJECTS
all I want to do
is a concrete box on the outside and a
wodden box on the inside
THE LONELY SPACE PROJECT: Design of unreal places for adventurous users AREA: various ROLE: DESIGNER. PLACE: San José, Costa Rica. DATE: February 2020 - current.
SCENOGRAPHY PROJECTS
LIVING AN ABJECT BODY Performance dance piece Dancers: Diana Betancourt Vill, Alonso Brenes Vargas, Dayron De León Castillo Scenography and Audiovisual art: Alejandra Méndez Ramírez Direction and dramaturgy: Amanda Méndez Ramírez Performance dance piece We move within the abjection from the beginning of life to death. This scenic realization questions abjections, body orifices, our waste and our own body as waste. At the same time, it dialogues with our own abjection, knowing that there are bodies that are considered as abjects and others that do not. Our bodies are disposable, expired, consumable and consumed. We problematize the privileges of our bodies and corporalities. We work with elements of theater dance, butoh dance and physical theater. We explore the relationship of the body with scenic objects and with the audiovisual: zooms, distancing. The assembly presents the continuous struggle of the bodies and their resistance to abjection. It draws the line of life, and how the body, as an abject entity, is transformed throughout our existence; having its greatest peaks when we are born and when we die (the highest level of abjection of a body: the corpse). In the middle of these two points, there is the process of socialization, where the abject character takes a political role in relation to the bodies; that is, when relating to the other bodies (people), relationships of power and hierarchy arise between them, and it is determined which bodies / corporalities / performativities are more or less allowed and socially accepted.
LIVING AN ABJECT BODY PROJECT: scenography for the performance project “Living an abject body”. Scenography, projection and audiovisuals AREA: 30 M2 ROLE: DESIGNER. PLACE: San José, Costa Rica DATE: September 2019
OPERA PIECE FOR KIDS LA BANDADA This work was made for the Opera play for kids call La Bandada.
This play told the story of a group of birds who are afraid of everyone else who is not white and clean, becoming eventually violent, push by their leader. A group of small birds decided to run away, trying to find a multi color world, where all birds, regardless of how they look, life together in harmony.
The director has specific needs in this projects, things must be light, easy to fix, recyclable and they must be easy for the actors and dancers to move. For this project two main elements were design, the first one was a top of the tree installation, a collection of plastic bags simulating being the top of the trees. This element allowed the light to be an important element, changing according to the situation and the intention of the director.
The second element was 5 trees, made out of cardboard. This trees were not just scenography, but characters, they needed to be move, turn, used as dance partners. Each tree had a different design, different height and special elements that made them unique.
La Bandada Director: Roxana Ávila Puppetry: Lucía Gonzales and Sofía Benavides Scenography: Alejandra Méndez
LA BANDADA PROJECT: Scenography for the theater opera for kids La Bandada AREA: 30 M2 ROLE: SCENOGRAPHER. PLACE: San José, Costa Rica DATE: Setiembre 2019
ART PROJECTS
THE SMALLEST DETECTABLE FEELING Installation Meteor Festival. NTA Bergen, Norway September 2015
EXPOSED Installation at the Ă˜stfold Kunstsenter as part of the New Artist Space. Fredrikstad, Norway January 2016
AM I LOOOKING FOR SHELTER rojects developed during the Art Residency International summer Program of the Watermill Center. Installation for the Watermill day. Collaboration performance with Suhwa Kim New York, USA Julio, 2019.
LONG SHOT FOR RENCENT TIDES Installation for the Festival Skøpt Collaboration project. Fredrikstad, Norway. August 2016
100 METERS TO THE SOUTH Installation part of the First Encounter of Scenography. San José, Costa Rica October 2017
STRETCH Installation for the Bienal Architecture of Costa Rica 2018 Children´s Museum. San José, Costa Rica May, 2018.
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THE AWKWARD SPACE Installation research projects made with the Kulturrådet grant for Newly graduate students. San José, Costa Rica July 2018 -March 2019
ATELIER 10.2 On going research and development of projects and ideas. about materials, projections and lights. San JosĂŠ, Costa Rica Current
ARCHITECTURE OF THE LONELY SELF On going research about the virtuality of spaces, interaction and the change of dinamics in social spaces. Selected projects for art grants: Mediaciones, Centro Cultural España. Junio 2020. Aquí Cultura, Ministerio de Cultura Juventud y deportes. Julio 2020 Residencias en Autoconfinamiento, Centro Cultural España. Julio - Setiembre 2020
EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
ARCHITECTURE AND KIDS WORKSHOP Worskshop for kids using art, scenography and architecture at the Kid´s Center Ilori La Carpio, Costa Rica February 2018
FULL DOCUMENTATION : https://alemendez1986artcv.wixsite.com/alemendez/ilori-workshop
THEATER DOCUMENTATION Research project on how to document theater, at one of the classes of the School of Dramatic Arts. University of Costa Rica San JosĂŠ, Costa Rica December, 2018
FULL DOCUMENTATION : https://issuu.com/alemendez/docs/documentaci_n_fotogr_fica_curso_pue https://issuu.com/alemendez/docs/documentacion_online_2
ESPACIO CUERPO
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DESGRAFMENTADO
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Scenography workshops for students of the School of Dramatic Arts of the University of Costa Rica. University of Costa Rica San José, Costa Rica August - December 2019
FULL DOCUMENTATION : https://issuu.com/alemendez9/docs/cuerpo___espacio____desfragmentad o__puesta_final https://issuu.com/alemendez9/docs/cuerpo___espacio____desfragmentad o__parte_1 https://issuu.com/alemendez9/docs/cuerpo___espacio____desfragmentad o__parte_2
TALLERES DE DISEÑO Ecuela de Arquitectura y Diseño del espacio interno. Universidad creativa. Design fundamentals, technology, virtuality and interaction with spaces. Design workshop for students of architecture and interior design. San José, Costa Rica April 2018 -current
CV AND ARTICLES
ARTICLES ABOUT MY WORK https://radio.nrk.no/serie/museum/sesong/20 1704/DOOF01001417 https://norwegiantheatreacademy.wordpress.c om/2017/02/06/what-is-grossraum-and-whywe-should-all-see-this-exhibition/ https://www.hadeland.no/kultur/arrangement/ konserter/satser-tungt-pa-utstilling-om-menn eskets-tidsalder/s/5-21-239212 https://www.hadeland.no/kultur/hadeland-folk emuseum/randsfjordmuseene/slik-har-du-aldri -sett-hadeland-folkemuseum/s/5-21-252102