SACO9 Now or never

ANCHORING EDUCATIONAL OFFERINGS: SCHOOL WITHOUT SCHOOL AT THE PORT | Carlos Rendón A concrete esplanade that spread out over more than 4,000 square meters, remaining empty for most of the year, was the space that SACO, in its ninth edition, arranged to use for a collective exhibition of international artists.

The space was also used for various educational offerings that introduced the public to different themes like the construction of musical instruments, the reinterpretation of works of art, or how to play architect with big blocks of wood.

Learning to Be a Luthier Remo Schnyder and Camila Lucero Allegri Until a few weeks ago, making a stringed musical instrument in under an hour seemed like an impossible task. Remo Schnyder, Swiss artist and exhibitor in Now or Never, along with the Chilean artist, Camila Lucero Allegri, showed that it was indeed possible, in an activity that was both dynamic and fun.

As they introduced themselves, each of the ten participants talked about what had got them into the world of music. From DJs to members of a local school orchestra, they had all been drawn to the event by the novelty of making sounds with a stick, a guitar string, cans, screws and plastic ties.

There were those who improvised, and used more ties; or who used larger cans or even two, connected to two different strings, whose sound changed depending on where they were struck, the can playing the part of resonance chamber. An excited music teacher that participated in the workshop said that she hoped to repeat the activity in her classroom.

At the end of the workshop the group went over to some shipping containers that they turned into huge resonance chambers. The music, at first a cacophony, acquired structure and rhythm, becoming a small improvised orchestra of percussion and strings.

Not Very Refined Now or Never exhibiting artists with Dagmara Wyskiel, Director of SACO Where does a work of art begin and where does it end? What is it that turns a few pallets used in the shipping and warehousing industry into a work of art?

Or a few chairs covered in cloth? Or sand? These are some of the questions in contemporary art that have gone unresolved since they were first raised.

Ordinary, inexpensive and “not very refined.” The materials that went into the creation of the works exhibited at Sitio Cero in Now or Never, could just 174