Contemporary Argentine Art and Ecological Crises
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CONTEMPORARY ARGENTINE ART AND ECOLOGICAL CRISES AN ABSTRACT SUBMITTED ON THE 18 DAY OF APRIL 2013 TO THE DEPARTMENTS OF THE HISTORY OF ART AND LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS OF TULANE UNIVERSITY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– LISA CROSSMAN APPROVED: ______________________ THOMAS F. REESE, Ph.D. DIRECTOR ______________________ MICHAEL PLANTE, Ph.D. ______________________ ANTONIO GOMEZ, Ph.D. ______________________ FLORENCIA BAZZANO- NELSON, Ph.D. ABSTRACT This dissertation explores contemporary Argentine art that has responded to local environmental issues and global ecological crises. This text focuses on diverse works produced between the 1960s and the present by artists based in La Plata and Buenos Aires. The projects analyzed in this study reveal the complexity of the concepts of nature, earth, land, environment and ecological crisis in contemporary society. They expose a series of interrelated issues and layers through which these concepts are defined. In order to designate the major approaches to ecological crises adopted by these artists, this study is divided into three sections, which denote distinct artistic methods and values: raising awareness: fighting against urban degradation; recuperation; and exploration. An analysis of individual works in relation to their central methods and contexts reveals a series of convergences and divergences. I argue that my selection of artists’ works contended with the conflict caused by industrial development and neoliberal economic policies and/or reconsidered the concept of nature and individuals’ relationship to it, shifting the dialogue about the environment to questions of place, engagement and adaptability. Collectively these artists’ works present a multifaceted image of the environment and its relationship to people, which is shaped by both the nuances of a particular location and each site’s or artist’s connection to a broader international context. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The inception, creation, and completion of this dissertation were aided by the support of a number of institutions, artists, colleagues, advisers, and friends. To all who are listed below and to those who, for the sake of brevity, are not stated, I am immensely grateful for your support. I am indebted to Florencia Bazzano-Nelson for her encouragement and feedback on this project through all stages of its development. I am thankful for Thomas Reese’s role as the chair of my committee, during the writing and editing of this text. His thoughtful and thorough comments were invaluable. Michael Plante and Antonio Gómez also offered insightful comments, which aided me in my revisions and will be useful in the future development of this text. While Laura Murphy and Laura Malosetti Costa were not on my committee, I owe them both a great deal of thanks. Laura Murphy’s course on environment and development, my discussions with her during the initial stages of my project’s development and her participation in my comprehensive exams provided me useful information and feedback that I have continued to consider. Laura Malosetti Costa warmly welcomed me to Buenos Aires, discussed my evolving project, and helped to connect me with a number of artists whose works are the focus of this dissertation. Her assistance during the first part of my fieldwork was vital. ii I am also indebted to all the artists who I worked with throughout the duration of this project: Mónica Millán, Teresa Pereda, Juan Pablo Ferlat, Alejandro Meitin, Silvina Babich, Rafael Santos, Daniel Acosta, Joaquín Fargas and his assistants, Héctor Puppo, Emiliano Causa and Andrea Juan. I am also grateful for Charly Nijensohn’s response to my inquiry. I hope to write more about his work in the future. I am appreciative of Rodrigo Alonso’s suggestions, Isabel Plante’s thoughts and sharing of her dissertation with me. My visit to Magdalena and tour of the coastline helped me to better understand the site and the circumstances and aftermath of the oil spill discussed in Chapter 3. I am thankful for Rafael Santos’s facilitation of this trip and the time that people took to meet with me and to show me around. Similarly, my visit to the Parque Hudson, participation in the Pachamama festival, and discussions with Rúben Ravera all helped to inform my understanding of SOS Tierra, which is held at this location. In my final days of follow-up fieldwork, Alejandra Fenochino and her husband brought me to Tecnópolis in August 2012, which was also informative. During my fieldwork, I also utilized a number of archives and libraries. I am grateful for the support and patience of the personnel at each of the following institutions: the Museum of Modern Art Library (Manhattan and Queens), Fundación Espigas (Buenos Aires), Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Buenos Aires), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Latinoamericano (La Plata), Biblioteca Nacional, Hemeroteca (Buenos Aires). I am grateful for the continued support of the departments of Latin American Studies and the History of Art at Tulane University iii and to the School of Liberal Arts for the Summer Merit Fellowships, which helped fund my fieldwork and support my writing. Finally, I owe all my friends and family many thanks for their patience and kindness. In particular, I am very grateful for the support of Derek Burdette, Cammie Hill-Prewitt, Lillian Kass, my mother, Elise Dietrich, Miranda Lash, Kael Alford, and Gwen Murray. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS …………………………………………………………......ii LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………….viii PREFACE ……………………………………………………………………………...1 INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………………...7 Terms and Theoretical Paradigms I. Nature and Place……………………………………………………………………..12 II. Environment and Developmental …………………………………………………...21 III. Ecologies, Globalization and Ecological Crises………………………....................25 IV. Contemporary Argentine Art ………………………………………………............30 Chapter Overview ……………………………………………………………………....35 RAISING AWARENESS: FIGHTING AGAINST URBAN DEGRADATION CHAPTER 1: THE ROOTS OF ECOLOGICALLY CONSCIOUS ART IN ARGENTINA, 1960–1980 ………………………………………………………….....41 Landscape, Development and the Avant-Garde ……………………………………….44 Industrialization’s Social and Environmental Violence ……………………………….56 Ecological Action for a “Planetary Consciousness” …………………………………..65 Early Texts on the Urban Environment ……………………………………………….72 v CHAPTER 2: ACTION ART FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS ……...77 The Rise of the Environmental Movement and Art’s insertion into Public Space .…………………………………........................80 Grupo Escombros: Nature and Human Rights ………………………………………...87 Uriburu: Green Art for Greenpeace ………………………………………....................94 Acosta: Action Art, from La Boca to the Parque Hudson ...…………………………...101 Stereotypes and Celebrations of Nature: Strategies for Raising Consciousness ………………………………………................108 RECUPERATION CHAPTER 3: CREATIVE RESPONSES TO ECOLOGICAL CRISES: DIALOGUE AND COMMUNITY …………………………………………………………………..117 Grupo Escombros: Poetry and Community ……………………………………………121 Ala Plástica: Creative Approaches to Expand Local Discussion of the Land ………....130 Ala Plástica and Rafael Santos’s Magdalena Project ………………………….............137 Community and Dialogue ……………………………………………………………...144 CHAPTER 4: POETICS OF PLACE: MATERIALS, MEMORIES AND RITUALS …………………………………….......155 Past Representations of Rural Places and Indigenous Peoples ………………………...163 Pereda: Earth / Land ………………………………………………………………........171 Millán: Solitary Journeys in Nature ……………………..……………………………..181 Methods of Engagement and the Reconstitution of Place……...………………………190 EXPLORATION CHAPTER 5: VISUALIZING ECOLOGICAL CRISES: LIMITS AND ADAPTATION…………………………………………………………199 vi Antarctica as a Global Symbol: Artist Residencies and Scientific Collaboration……...206 Juan: Catastrophe ………………………………………………………………………212 Fargas: Invention and Adaptation ……………………………………………………...225 Fargas and Grupo Proyecto Biopus: Virtual Possibilities ……………………………...231 Global Ecological Crises and Art’s Limits ………………………………………….....236 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………..242 Bibliography ...…………………………………………………………………………332 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Nicolás García Uriburu, Vertical Coloration, Iguazú Falls, 1971. The Museum of Modern Art Library. Figure 2. Exhibition photographs of Berni’s xylographs, Argentine Section in the Italian Pavilion, 31st International Art Exhibition, Venice, Italy,1962. Antonio Berni: A 40 años del premio de la XXXI Bienal de Venecia, 1962–2002 (Buenos Aires 2002), n.p. Figure 3. Exhibition photographs of Berni’s xylographs, Argentine Section in the Italian Pavilion, 31st International Art Exhibition, Venice, Italy, 1962. Antonio Berni, n.p. Figure 4. Antonio Berni, Inundación en el barrio de Juanito, oil and mixed-media, 186 x 124 cm, 1961. Antonio Berni (Buenos Aires, 1977), p. 92. Figure 5. Antonio Berni, Juanito cazando pajaritos, 1961, xilo-collage, 174 x 128 cm Antonio Berni, Plate 50. Figure 6. Antonio Berni, Juanito bañándose, 1961, xilo-collage, 194.5 x 145 cm. Antonio Berni, Plate 53. Figure 7. Antonio Berni, Juanito pescando, 1962, xilo-collage. Antonio Berni, Plate 49. Figure 8. Antonio Berni, Juanito pesca con red, 1962, xilo-collage. Antonio Berni, Plate 51. Figure 9. Antonio Berni, Juanito con pescado, 1961, xilo-collage, 169 x 126 cm. Antonio Berni, Plate 52. Figure 10. Antonio Berni, Tormenta en la pampa, 1962, 160 x 110 cm. Antonio Berni, Plate