Antoni Muntadas

Antoni Muntadas. Entre/Between Exhibitio. From November 23, 2011 to March 26, 2012

Daina Augaitis, curator: "The exhibition is titled Muntadas. Entre/Between, and that’s because Muntadas occupies the space that is between. It’s a little bit distant from certain places or locations or ideas, and I think it gives him an outsider’s perspective on the big cultural and political ideas of our time, because that’s really his artistic investigation. So, we wanted to really articulate that idea. And I think Between also is a space that allows for possibility, it’s neither this nor that. So I think that his work is really not conclusive, it doesn’t offer particular solutions. It occupies that space in between, it begins to suggest and it’s really up to the viewer to be making decisions after that.

The exhibition’s comprised of nine installations that are nine thematic fields and it begins with the idea of Microspaces. So how do we investigate the world through our body, in a very personal way. The second one is Media Landscapes which is a term that was coined by Muntadas in the 1970’s. To really look at the massive amounts of information and advertising that come through mass media. There are both early and late works in that constellation as well. Then, we move on to Spheres of Power where we have the wonderful installation of The Board Room, that really analyses the gestures and the tone and the nuances of people who are in power, whether it’s economic, religious or entertainment. And then to focus its attention a little bit more we go to the domain of fear and how this manipulation and control bring about a certain situation in the world and what are the mechanisms for doing that. Then we move to the places of spectacle and we look at the architecture of containment, especially in a structure like the stadium, and there we have a very dramatic and grand installation.

Then we move to communal spaces, which investigates the urban field, how do we construct our idea of the city, how do we interact, how do we frame different views and create different histories. Then we move on to the Archive and there is a question of how we create typologies and sections. In fact: is it objective or subjectively done? – which is a different framework for the world and all the information within the world. And one of the key pieces is of course the File Room, which documents acts of censorship around the world, and in an interactive website. And then we move to the spaces of translation, where we are right now. Muntadas has been preoccupied with the idea of translation and he has been doing a series since the mid 1990’s. In every step of the way and every transaction that we do now in our global society there is some translation, not just words but ideas and gestures and values. And then we go to the final sphere which is the systems of art. And in Systems of Art Muntadas turns his critical gaze toward the art world. And there we investigate the hierarchies, the various systems of methods of display that we have in the art world. And there’s a very large and important installation called Exhibition there, where we can really reflect on the place of art and perception in the art world."

Muntadas: "In 1998 I had an exhibition called Híbridos in what was then known as the Reina Sofia National Arts Centre. The exhibition consisted of a series of finished works plus a new piece titled Situación 88. This work explored the juxtaposition of the building's functions as a hospital and as a museum over the course of time. I used this room, which now holds works by Richard Serra, to refer to that situation, and I opened the
windows wide to let in the noise, the smells and the cold from Atocha.

I have chosen to focus on the new building as a kind of excuse; it is merely the top of an iceberg that leaves many other things out of the picture.

You are viewing the Sabatini wall from this room, and the glass panels on the wall are covered in text, a hypertext containing references, quotes and key words that are placed around an opening, a window the size of the screen and the projection. Fifteen minutes of intertwined conversations are projected on each floor, featuring people who were in some way responsible for the addition of the new building.

I wouldn't know how to define this work; I consider it a device that allows me to speak of the relation between art and architecture, architecture and museum, other complex matters like political decisions, or the use, function and circulation of the building. As for political decisions, we mustn't forget that the building expansion involved three different directors, in addition to the current one; three Fine Arts directors and two political parties. That's why Guirao argues that this kind of project requires a good architect and a good client, for all these political changes and lack of continuity made the client figure quite uncertain. There is one resulting architecture, but each director had a different view and a different program.
Architecture has certain functions. The project should come as a result of the activation of the building. You must listen to what the walls have to say."