迈克尔·利纳雷斯

Espera que crezca (hamaca)

source: layetjohnson

As an exhibition of contemporary Puerto Rican artists, one might be tempted to hypothesize that Paraíso, on view this month at ltd los angeles, is meant to express a quintessentially Puerto Rican attitude, or perhaps act as homage to the land itself. What’s primarily on display, however, is a state of mind: one shared by quite a few 21st-century contemporary artists, regardless of nationality. In fact, if the artists and curators involved in Paraíso are to be taken at their word, paradise is a land where promises are both made and broken; where familiar objects act in unfamiliar ways; and where the only guarantee is that there are no guarantees.

Paraiso at ltd los angeles. Installation view. Image courtesy of ltd los angeles.
Take Paraíso’s three opening works: Michael Linares’s Untitled, 2011, a big, blue balloon hovering above several beached strands of triangular, car-lot flags, weighted down by a rock; Linares’s Wait ‘til it grows, 2011, two small coconut trees sprouting straight from the coconuts themselves, burdened by a hammock strung between them that has yet to make it off the ground; and Charles Juhaz-Alvarado’s Del brazo a la garganta: (mimus polyglottos), 2011, a large, handcrafted wooden bulldozer claw that looks like it should be attached to an equally huge wooden bulldozer, but which is actually attached to a vehicle the size of a toy. All three works exist in indeterminate states, with the onus on the viewer to decide whether the balloon is ascending or descending, or whether the hammock will make it off the ground.
.
.
.
.
.
.
source: artspycn

作为一场展示波多黎各当代艺术家的展览，近日在洛杉矶Itd画廊开幕的群展“Paraiso”试图表现出一种典型的波多黎各人的态度，或是对这个岛国本身的尊敬。然而，它主要表现出的还是一种思想状态，由一些21世纪当代艺术家共享，不论国籍。参展艺术家包括迈克尔·利纳雷斯（Michael Linares）、查尔斯·阿尔瓦拉多（Charles Juhaz-Alvarado）、Jesús “Bubu” Negrón、Radamés “Juni” Figueroa以及Ignacio Lang。用策展人与参展艺术家自己的话来说，天堂就是一片承诺被创造出来、然后又被打碎的土地；在这里，熟悉的物品以不熟悉的方式被表现出来，唯一能确保的事便是没有什么能确保。

以这场展览的三件开放式作品为例，在迈克尔·利纳雷斯的作品“Untitled”（2011）中，一个巨大的蓝色气球被一块石头固定在半空中，地面上摆放着一些彩色的旗帜；他的另一件作品“Wait‘til it grows”（2011）由两棵小型的椰子树苗组成，它们都是直接由椰子发芽长出来的，两棵树苗之间被系上了吊床，但是因为树苗还太矮所以吊床只能被放在地上；查尔斯·阿尔瓦拉多的作品“Del brazo a la garganta：（mimus polyglottos）”（2011）是一个手工制作的木质推土机爪，人们下意识地会认为它应该连接在一个同等大小的木质推土机上，但实际上却连接在了一个玩具车上。这三件作品存在于一种不稳定的状态中，由观众来决定气球是上升还是下降，或是吊床能不能脱离地面。