6/2/2009
Daniel Canogar
Matadero, Madrid
Fuegos Fatuos. New work
Matadero Madrid presents Fuegos Fatuos, a set of five large-scale light installations specially created for the Abierto x Obras space by the artist Daniel Canogar. These sculptural pieces are constructed from discarded electronic materials: coloured cables, thousands of burnt-out bulbs, meters of videotape and old slot-machine screens.
Light animations projected onto the installations appear to free the energy stored in the electronic waste, awakening the memory of their past lives. The artist comments, "Through my work I try to bring dead materials back to life, reveal their secrets, revive the collective memory they bury to construct an accurate portrait of a society and an age".
The installations resonate with Matadero Madrid's former incarnation: the city slaughterhouse. In both cases, the space has been used for the suspending of dead matter. Further, like the transformation of the space for creative use, Daniel Canogar's installations seek to reanimate the lifeless.
Fuegos Fatuos explores the short life expectancy of the technologies we cast off, and its relationship to organic mortality. As we watch the light surge through the installations parallels are drawn between the human circulatory system and the energy that animates our information society.
Fuegos Fatuos is part of Abierto x Obras' program of site-specific installations, initiated in 2006, that take place in the former cold-storage facility of Madrid's Matadero (slaughterhouse), a 150.000 m2 complex in the heart of the city, that is being transformed into a new centre for contemporary creation. The center is an initiative of Madrid Council's Department of the Arts in collaboration with other public and private entities.
DANIEL CANOGAR (Madrid, 1964)
Daniel Canogar is a visual artist living in Madrid. He works with photography, scultpture and installation. He explores themes related to mass consumption, excess and the archeology of media. Amongst other venues, his work has been exhibited at The Kunstsammlung Nordrhein Westfallen Museum, Dusseldorf; The Hamburger Banhof Musuem in Berlin; The Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus; The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Centro de Arte Santa Mónica, Barcelona and The Reina Sofia Contemporary Art Museum, Madrid.
His publications include Ephemeral Cities: Universal Expositions, Spectacle and Technology, published by Julio Ollero, Madrid, 1992; Ingrávidos, Fundación Telefónica, Madrid, 2003; and various essays on the architecture of the image, contemporary photography and new media art. As well as continuing to exhibit new work, he is curently artistic director of VIDA: Art and Artificial Life, an annual international competition for artists working with robotics and A-Life.
http://www.danielcanogar.com
Image: Circadian Rhythms, 2009. Installation Variable Dimensions. Photo by Daniel Canogar. Courtesy of the artist/VEGAP
Matadero Madrid
Paseo de la Chopera 14 - 28045, Madrid
Monday to Saturday: 11am - 9pm
Sunday: 10am - 3pm