I read it last night and I will forget it again. Life is a continuous weave of events, without a plot; it is only our literary effort that converts it into a collection of small and large histories. Someone made this evidence clear by recognizing life as essentially idiotic, unable to obey any reason.
The absence of a disciplined and articulate tale of a logic of progress means, at the end of it all, that there is not a point of departure or a precise arrival. Things occur without advancing. The dream about tomorrow has ended.
In 1920 Duchamp invented the idiotic artefact Revolving glass plates which, in a certain manner, materialized these convictions. The apparatus made the plates spin creating a disquieting visual effect of pure accumulated movement, without any purpose, without any history besides a collection of turns.
The same thing takes place in the majority of works by Rafaël Rozendaal . In Vai Avanti (2006) we supposedly advance through an interminable landscape of colors; but without a resting destination. Over this semi-psychedelic background Big long now (2006) is projected. Remember how Duchamp constructed in his Parisian apartment a door that connected the studio with the bedroom and, simultaneously, with the bathroom? Opening one space implied closing another, and vice versa. One aperture, at the time it opens on a situation, cancels another. Again there is no argument. Life is idiotic. Here, the same game is repeated infinitely with these doors: however much you turn the page, there only appears a book without text, like life. Events are literally supported by nothing; there is no bottom: in the best of cases, this is apparent only when a melancholic night drips sadness over this nothingness (I am very very sorry, 2006). I am sorry, very sorry, only small and brief histories for our collection of illusions.
Only ephemeral and small histories, without a solution of continuity, without biography. Piece by piece. The scant possibility of the alteration of the disquieting movement of the Duchampian plates is, in effect, plausible. But that demands, in an irremediable way, a negotiation, complicity between distinct instants to agree on a route where one could build tentative histories. The spinning could move beyond itself as long as the sum of its illusions is not contrary. This is the suggestion of the SUMO project devised by Miquel Garcia.
The SUMO brand, now presenting the collection PRESENT (gifts of today and for today) specializing in these precarious demands of mobility; whether in human scale (shoes) or a mechanical drive (the bicycle or the automobile). The contribution of the collection consists in offering various instruments in agreement with the imperative of a general will of movement: a weighted decision between all possible directions. There is no longer a book with the established route that guarantees arriving at port. All destinations are feasible, but it is necessary to negotiate the force between the diverse options on which we could build histories. Otherwise the energetic shock adds up to zero (SUMO). Small, personal or political histories, one by one, about nothing, without more depth than our agreement. Literature strewn together with pedals.
Rafaël Rozendaal (Netherlands, 1980) considers the internet to be a place between thoughts and objects, as a space, not a medium, where he can create web animations that often require the spectator’s participation. His animations have been shown this year in the Hayward Gallery (London). In 2006, he exhibited in the Benaki Musuem (Athens), the Liquid Room (Tokyo), the GMVZ (Amsterdam), and Galleria Pack (Milan), among others. In 2005, his work was shown in the Festival LOOP and the SONAR Festival (Barcelona), and in Sketch Gallery (London). In 2004 he was part of the project “Neentoday” in the MU foundation (Netherlands) and the group show “Digital Sublime” (Taipei). In 2002 he participated in “whitneybiennial.com” (New York).
Miquel Garcia (Barcelona, 1975). In his projects Garcia makes use of video, graffiti, photography, or everday objects. Recently he has been selected for the Turku Biennial 2007 (Finland) and currently he is an artist in residence in Hangar (Barcelona). Last year he was awarded a fellowship for cultural exchange from Can Xalant (Mataró) which allowed him to develop a workshop and exhibit in Medellín, Colombia. In 2006 he took part in group exhibitions in the Vic Biennial (Barcelona), in ALBIAC International Biennial (Almería) and in the Festival LOOP’06 (Barcelona). In addition, he has given workshops and seminars in Palestine and Colombia.
