SACO9 Now or never

CONCEPTUAL EXAMPLES FOR FINDING ART IN WASTE AND CONTRACTS | Carlos Rendón Nobody imagined, on that late March afternoon, that we were attending what would turn out to be the last ISLA community activity before going into a sevenmonth long period of silence due to the pandemic. Maybe it was the most appropriate way to say goodbye: with an activity that dealt with the ambiguity of ideas, the uncertainty about what we observe and, above all, the question, “where is the art in a work of art?” That was the title of the talk given by French artist Fabrice Michel at the end of an eleven day residency, paid for by the French Institute of Chile. He had been brought to the mining capital to look through the city’s waste in search of an artistic proposal, which due to the pandemic, was not able to be exhibited at the festival.

Waste products figure into Fabrice’s entire journey throughout the north of Chile.

The waste products of Neoliberalism in the street protests in which he took part; industrial waste products in the garbage and junk sullying the vast desert landscape; waste products produced by western culture in the most recent symbols of resistance from the indigenous communities of the Atacama Desert, trapped in territories that were both blessed and cursed by the riches of the day.

Guano, saltpeter, copper, lithium.

The talk sought to expound upon these issues, but also to present a general overview of conceptual art; probably the most baffling style of art for a region generally lacking in arts education, and where contemporary art is still considered a sort of eccentric cousin.

Perhaps due to that very same strangeness, the talk drew a large number of attendees. Teachers, actors, visual artists, cultural managers, academics, scientists, all gathered to listen to the French artist, who subjected his own work to the question “where is the art?” The main example he used was his piece Ratio Essendi, in which he signs a legal contract, along with another person acting as patron, stating that “the signatories agree to create a work of art for Fabrice Michel.” And so he asks: Is the work of art in the paper? Is it in the letters that state it as a work of art? Is it in the signatures of both artists? Is it in the ethereal idea that this contract is art?

As the artist reflected on the dialog produced between art and aesthetics (subject matters that he splits into two separate categories), and until what point a work is still considered art when its format or meaning is taken away, the twenty five heads in the room nodded in recognition, and offered their perspectives; first in silence, then out loud, in a question and answer session at the end of the presentation. Later, he talked more about his trip through the Atacama Desert, mentioning among others, the small town of Peine and the chat that he had about 132