Une exposition personnelle de Abraham Cruzvillegas visible du 13 au 17 février 2013, stand 10D08.

"I used the residence house behind the old cinema of the city as a workshop, both as a working place and as an ‘academic’ site: I made sculptures in situ using only materials proceeding from the house, as it is an abandoned building with many layers of experience, customized details, transformations, attachments and destruction.

Then, during the three weeks I stayed there, I met with local people to learn about the house’s story, about the city, the politics, the economy, the society, the culture, the food, the music, the religion, the traditions, and the art. It was a live atelier, a learning device. During that time I opened the place for consultation with younger artists, thinkers, musicians, activists, people in general, to talk about work, common worries, more like an educative situation in which the one who learns was me.

So, besides my own formation in Mexico city, I took as reference some ideological positions about un-learning, like those stated by Paulo Freire, Ivan Illich, Amartya Sen, among others, and my own personal approach to Taoism. Community, dialogue, share, exchange, barter, music, love, food, sex, conviviality, art and some other ideas appeared during these days, as an agenda for myself to learn from people in Gwangju.

The democratizing movement from May 1980 was a central point of discussion, along with the long term colonizing of Korea, the high development of its economy, Confucianism, Cold War, education and globalization, as constant subject matters.

These 'Advice' meetings took place at the house two days a week, during which all discussions were documented with photo and/or video, as well as the sculptures I made, and many details of the house as it was when I arrived. All these images, and words will be together in a book to be published after the biennial finishes.

The works made during the residency remained in exhibition at the house during the time of the show, as new modifications, new arrangements, new inhabitants and parasites there. "