DaWire » Essays

Habacuc and the imperatives of beauty, kindness and truth

dawire — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:00:18 +0000

The article we are featuring today as a part of our week-long 1 year celebration is on an extremely controversial work that made worldwide headlines in the arts and human rights communities. I am talking about Guillermo Vargas "Habacuc," the infamous Costa Rican artist who tied up a stray dog during a show and left him to starve to prove a point. Adán Vallecillo's essay eloquently explains not just the ethical problems the work poses, but the economic and political reasons that motivated the work; ideas that are seemingly completely obscured by the shocking nature of the work.[...]

Maurizio Cattelan: Is There Life Before Death?

dawire — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 17:45:00 +0000

We want to bring our readers more news on contemporary art from around the world. That's why we have teamed up with our friends at DailyServing, a global online magazine based in California, to bring you the first of a series of posts that will feature articles originally published in DS. For our first post, we have chosen an interesting article written by Noah Simblist on Maurizio Cattelan's work, a part of a feature that explores the concept of myth in contemporary society. Kudos to our friends at DS for publishing such great content. I hope you enjoy it![...]

Raw Material and Manufacture: Its Implications on Art. Essay by Adán Vallecillo

dawire — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:00:22 +0000

A title like this one has to be placed in context, otherwise we run the risk of dispersion or formalistic reductionism that we are so accustomed to. For this reason, the concepts of raw materials and manufacture will have to be questioned in sociological terms in order to better understand some of the differences between the art produced in the First World and in Central and Latin America.[...]

Jason Mena: Blind Fields

dawire — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:00:45 +0000

What happens if we directly look at the sun? Our bright star reflections allow us to see things, colors and forms. The illumination produced on the objects makes them visible to our eyes and allows us to establish a multiplicity of relations with them. The excess of illumination, emitted by the sun, bewilders our sight and creates blind fields in our perception. Light is, at the same time, source of clarity and reason for concealment of a vision field.[...]

Habacuc and the imperatives of beauty, kindness and truth

dawire — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:46:50 +0000

Throughout the history of Central America, there is not one single artist that has flaunted worldwide fame as Guillermo Vargas “Habacuc,” who stepped into the international arena with his solo exhibition at the Códice de Managua gallery in Nicaragua, on August 16th 2007.[...]

Héctor Falcón: Transgressions on an Artbook

dawire — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:30:38 +0000

Every book has its own story. Some have inspired ways of living; others have rescued people from boredom and suffering. What has been written in books is a means of support by which other books are written. Books, as everything alive, give birth to other books.[...]

The Mexican Bicentennial in the work of Miguel Rodríguez Sepúlveda

dawire — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:27:51 +0000

2010 is the year in commemoration of the Mexican Declaration of Independence’s Bicentennial. Miguel Rodríguez Sepúlveda explores topics of Mexican national identity, human economic transactions and the concept of Freedom.[...]

Jason Mena: Branding Ideologies

dawire — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 03:36:55 +0000

Everywhere we go, it seems that advertisements are progressively invading our public and private spaces. We are constantly being bombarded with messages trying to persuade us to consume a certain product or brand. Billboards hovering over crowded highways are a perfect example of this effort in mass consumption.[...]

Catherine Matos Olivo: The Exploration of Self

dawire — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:45:55 +0000

When I saw Catherine Matos Olivo’s work for the first time at the 2nd San Juan Poligraphic Triennial, it did not immediately grab my attention. I was strolling through the room looking at the different works displayed, when I caught a quick glimpse of several postcards of photographs neatly placed on a shelf. Not only did I not know it was her work, since the tag with her name was not placed on the wall, but what I saw did not instantly provoke a reaction within myself.[...]

Josué Pellot: Colonialism and the Politics of Cultural Consumption

dawire — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:04:27 +0000

Is there a correlation between colonialism and consumerism? In what ways does colonial history shape contemporary life? Living in Puerto Rico, these are questions I ask myself quite often. Consumers acquire products to satisfy a need created by advertisers. The effect is not inconsequential, as the consumer is never fully satisfied. Through this process of mass consumption, an alternate milieu is created where global socioeconomic problems simply do not exist. Is consumerism a driving force of colonialism?[...]