Héctor Zamora
BIO / CV
ORDRE ET PROGRÈS
2016
Palais de Tokyo
París, Francia
«Los barcos simbolizan la aventura y el descubrimiento, la esperanza de cobijo o la posibilidad de supervi- vencia en un entorno hostil. Si transmiten un imaginario alimentado por las grandes epopeyas mitológicas, hoy están simbólicamente ligados a la crisis migratoria y al lema de la ciudad de París ‘Fluctuat nec mergitur’ - batido por las olas pero no se hunde.» - Héctor Zamora
De la performance de Héctor Zamora de la noche del 2 de mayo de 2016 solo quedan restos de madera y metal. Son la huella de los movimientos repetitivos y destructivos de un equipo de performers que acudió a desmontar cinco barcos pesqueros ataviados con ropa de trabajo y cascos. Es un protocolo sencillo, llevado a cabo a ciegas, y suficiente para transformar el espacio expositivo en un cementerio de barcos.
Desde los barcos de partida -prefabricados de gran formato- hasta los esqueletos de acabado, la obra juega con la relación evolutiva entre las formas y el espacio. Su aspecto escultórico reside también en el gesto de demolición. A través de él, Héctor Zamora «disuelve la promesa del imaginario que encierran estos barcos». Esta disolución en forma de hacha refleja la brutalidad de la transformación de la industria pesquera y la violencia de la agitación socioeconómica mundial. El artista cortocircuita así la visión de la historia como progreso perpetuo de Auguste Comte (1798-1857), el filósofo francés del que toma prestado el título «Orden y progreso». Héctor Zamora lleva la doctrina positivista en la dirección equivocada: ¿puede nacer el progreso del desorden?
“Boats symbolise adventure and discovery, but they also embody the hope of a safe haven or the ability to survive in a hostile environment. While conveying images borned from great mythological epics, nowadays, they are also symbolically linked to the migration crisis.” - Héctor Zamora
Invited to exhibit at Palais de Tokyo, Mexican artist Héctor Zamora (born in 1974, lives in Brazil) has designed a performance-based installation, which powerfully evokes the deconstruction of the symbolic realm and the hope that navigation represents.
Assembled in the sculptural space of Palais de Tokyo’s Orbe New York, whose large bay windows overlook the Seine, several wooden fishing boats have been dismantled, piece by piece. The structure which emerges is underpinned by a fundamental question: can progress be born from order?
With Order and Progress, Héctor Zamora continues his exploration of socio-economic models and the «wreckage» of the history of industrialisation, in keeping with his previous projects, such as Atopic Delirium (2009) or Every Belgian is born with a brick in the stomach (2008).
“The title of this work, Order and Progress, comes from the motto that adorns the celestial sphere of the Brazilian flag, this itself being a more concise version of the expression used by the philosopher Auguste Comte in his Course in Positive Philosophy (1830), ‘Love as a principle and order as the basis; progress as the goal’. This title establishes a contrast between the action which unfolds throughout the duration of the exhibition – the structured and organised process of dismantling several boats – and the central idea of positivist thought.
(…)
Here, the purpose of dismantling boats is not for the construction or development of new political, economic or social scenarios. Instead, it serves to dispel the promises borne from the fantasies they convey, whether it be within the specific context of France, of Europe, or within a wider cultural sphere.” (2)
“The socio-political dimension, an essential aspect of Héctor Zamora’s method, is here combined with a strong graphic and architectural dimension: as soon as the boats are installed, the artist is somehow confronted with a loss of control. The systematic dismantling of these vessels does not enable him to predict how the space will be altered, how it will be perceived or used.”» (3)