artnexus #55

Jennifer Allora (1974, United States) and Guillermo Calzadilla (1971, Cuba) have worked together since 1995 and Puerto Rico is their place of residence. The particularities of this island where its Caribbean culture mingles with its Spanish colonial legacy and the United States presence, turn it into a favorable place for their searches.

They use diverse resources to make the spectator meditate, through a particular approach to daily occurrences rendering an account of the machinations of power. As they said in an interview last April, their concept of activism, of protest, goes beyond the street marches and demonstrations and should be included in all the fields of knowledge, in which art obviously is involved.

It is a matter of creating a space, allowing questioning of political stands or preconceived truths. The role of art is very significant because not readily visible situations can be highlighted, giving the possibility to respond.

Landmark was a work created as part of the movement against the U.S. Navy bomb testing in Puerto Rican Vieques Island. The twelve photographs of the series make us wonder about our life on this earth, and what determines that some spaces are to be preserved and not others. The above-mentioned island has been used for more than sixty years as a testing ground for radioactive bombs, germs, and chemical agents.

Working with opposition groups, they devised shoes with a rubber sole to be used in civil disobedience actions. Some of the prints left on the floor read for example: “Not one bomb more, not a minute more.”

Their works may take place in plazas or streets, but also in museums and galleries, participating in individual and group exhibitions organized by prestigious institutions and in world-known events such as the Havana and São Paulo Biennials.

IVONNE PINI