Excavating notions of value
Emilio Moreno, performance Precision Tools, 2012 in 18 pictures and 18 stories, Amsterdam
'Living in a historical moment of change, in which the values that once supported the idea of the welfare state seem to be obsolete in Europe, and the value of culture and citizens is being reduced to market viability, it seems fundamental to research what I consider the three basic pillars supporting our construction of different notions of value,' says Spanish artist Emilio Moreno, who is based in Cape Town for the next two weeks as the first resident artist of the newly launched Annex Residency Programme.
He sees these three aspects as being currency, language and notions of history, and it is the third element that he is exploring during his time here in South Africa. His research is primarily archive driven as his interest lies in tracing the biographies of objects and actions, and how, together with language, these elements journey through a range of value statuses. The overarching question compelling his research is that of how history/stories are constructed - asking what political imperatives and literary devices are at work within them.
Moreno, whose work was most recently exhibited as part of the group show, The Grand Domestic Revolution, at Casco Office for Art, Design and Theory in Utrecht,teaches at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam.
Starting at the Origins Centre in Johannesburg, he has visited The Cullinan Diamond Mine, where the world's largest diamond was discovered in 1905; Drimolen, an archeological excavation site in the Cradle of Humankind; the Vredefort Dome, the largest meteorite impact site in the world; and Maropeng, among other sites.He has been conducting extensive research in close contact with palaeontologists, archaeologists, curators and staff from several museums of Natural History and universities in South Africa. Besides studying natural history treasures (such as fossils and prehistoric utensils) he is also exploring the historical importance of mining in South Africa as a crossroad between nature, culture and economy.
Working closely with Iziko Museums, as well as international funding bodies, the Annex Residency Programme invites young artists from both international and South African locales to Cape Town for a period of six weeks. During this time, resident guests may conduct a creative research with the programme's curator, Clare Butcher, and a growing community of collaborators in the city. The residency is based at the Annex building next to the South African National Gallery, Cape Town.
Moreno will be giving a presentation at the National Gallery on Saturday, 1 September. For more info, visit: http://annexresidency.tumblr.com/