Sometimes we totally immerse ourselves in a novel. We feel like we are part of it, we dream of what is going to happen next. Printed words are transcribed into events, images and places in our heads… Visual arts books have been used for years but it is only now that narrative writing is becoming an artistic practice. Many avant-garde artists wrote but their writing was divorced from making art. In recent years, more and more projects have appeared combining literature with visual works. The strategy is reminiscent of the work of Henry Darger, who was probably the first to create a complex piece on the border of writing and art – a fantasy novel of over 15000 pages with numerous illustrations.

Works created in relation to a written book do not have to be illustrations; they can serve as an autonomous work of art, a continuation or an addition to the novel. Thus the convention of an artist’s book (or book as an object) or a graphic novel where text and illustrations are inseparable and complement each other is defied. Has literature become a new tool for creating expanded narrations in visual arts? Is it justified to talk about a new phenomenon in contemporary art? What are the consequences for the production process when adopting a purely textual form, moreover a narrative? What link remains to visual arts? Is it possible to find a relation to conceptual art, or is this an entirely different artistic form?

The project The Book Lovers is divided in three parts, an online database and collection of artist novels – an exhibition – and a public program with performances, talks, interviews, public reading of artist novels…

La Habana, Cuba

From May 11 to June 11, 2012

Opening May 11, 2012

Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wilfredo Lam / Consejo Nacional de las Artes Plásticas

www.bienalhabana.cult.cu

More info coming soon

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Illusion – Disillusion

Solo exhibition in Artium, museum of contemporary art of Vitoria (Spain). Within the Praxis program. 

23rd April-24th June

A compilation of works that connect both Illusion (art project in the form of a novel) and Disillusion (art project in the form of a board game) will be displayed. Due to their participative nature, the exhibition space will be transformed in a sort of “game room”. All pieces are interrelated and all require an active role from the spectator to be activated. Some are for one player, some are to be played with an opponent. They will be special evenings for collective games: Illusion Buzzword Bingo and QUIZ.

More info coming soon.

18 November 2011 – 8 January 2012

Opening 17th November, at 19.00 

Curated by Pieter Vermeulen, as part of the ICI’s Curatorial Intensive program. Elena Bajo, Lode Geens, Filip Gilissen, David Maroto, Warren Neidich, Jürgen Ots, Ariel Schlesinger, Naama Tsabar.

Extra City – Kunsthal Antwerpen 

Tulpstraat 79, BE-2060 Antwerp

Tel/fax +32 (0)3 677 1655

www.extracity.org

Uncommonplaces web blog

Uncommonplaces is a group exhibition that opens up a dialectical space between the artistic and the everyday, originality and banality, the object and the abject. The commonplace refers to a dimension of our reality that we take for granted, overlook or neglect. By adding the prefix un-, the question arises whether we can imagine a different, experimental version of the everyday. I am participating with Adieu, Jean-Arthur, which marked the beginning of my Four Circles project and, therefore the beginning of my art practice, in 1998. This piece is dedicated to French poet Arthur Rimbaud’s decision to abandon art practice.

10th November at 19.00

Centrum Beeldende Kunst Rotterdam

Nieuwe Binnenweg 75
3014 GE Rotterdam
tel 010 436 0288

From 1st January to 30th June 2011 visual artist David Maroto (born in Spain, lives in Rotterdam) spent a residency period in International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP), in New York City. This residency was co-sponsored by Centrum Beeldende Kunst Rotterdam, together with [De ïs Ka], Amsterdam. Upon his return, David presented his experiences and the result of his work during the six-month residence, in a public conversation with curator Fleur van Muiswinkel, who visited ISCP during its Open Studio Days and wrote an article that was published in the art magazine Metropolis M.

Fleur van Muiswinkel (1981) is a Dutch curator who lives and works in Amsterdam. During her study Art History in Amsterdam, she worked at W139. Afterwards, she worked several years at Office for Contemporary Art Norway as the studio co-ordinator. In London, where she participated in the Goldsmiths Curating Course, she organized several exhibitions and events: film screenings at South London Gallery and n.o.where, co-curated a performance weekend “Live at 176” at 176 / Zabludowicz Collection, curated the photography exhibition “Untitled” at The Pigeon Wing. In Amsterdam, she organised the group exhibition “Travelling into the Unknown”. Recently, she opened “Help Young Worlds”, a solo-show by the Dutch sculptor Ad de Jong at 1857 in Oslo. Currently she is working on different projects for SMBA and SKOR. Future projects include curating the Kunstvlaai in Fall 2012 together with Natasha Ginwala.

The Dutch Art Institute (DAI) targets energetic and inquisitive artists with a critical attitude towards traditional art centres and their hierarchies, by providing them with an international platform for exchange and dialogue with peers as well as with established visual artists, theoreticians and practitioners from other disciplines. By means of its fluid curriculum that integrates theoretical reflection, curatorial knowledge production, collaborative ‘hands-on’ projects as well as independent research, the DAI empowers their critical relations with the art world. The DAI wants to play an active and engaged role in the (art)world and maintains amicable working relationships with various institutions, initiatives, organizations and other ‘bodies’, all pioneering at the forefront of the arts and / or education. The DAI is one of the accredited Master programs of the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts and is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education and listed in the Central Register of Higher Education Programs (CROHO). After two years of study it is possible to obtain a recognized degree (MFA).

From 10th September to 9th October 2011

Winschoterkade 10 , 9711EA – Groningen. The Netherlands.  Tlf 050-3132651 

Open: Tue-Sat 12.00 – 17.00h + Sun 14.00 – 17.00h

http://sign2.nl

www.noorderlicht.com

Sign -tentoonstellingsruimte voor Hedendaagse Beeldende Kunst- is pleased to present First Circle, David Maroto’s first solo show devoted to this long-term project. After the Second Circle project (2005-06, which took place in TENT. Rotterdam, and W139 Amsterdam), David embarked in the development of its twin circle, which both precedes and is a continuation of it. First Circle is centered in the crossover between visual arts and literature -more concretely narratives, with a distinctive psychoanalytical approach. This is the first exhibition in which different works from First Circle have been gathered together. A selection that consists of the series Close-up Cut-outs, the installation Seven Masks, and the sound piece An Echo.

Close-up Cut-outs are a series of four large-sized prints that have been cut out by hand. They always depict a scene with two faces in the middle of a dialogue. The characters are made up of a collage of different faces. Their words, which are displayed in a text balloon, come also from adapted quotations that range from philosophical citations and poems to pop songs. As figures without a background, these pieces are a mixture between image, object and space. The architectural environment where they are displayed each time becomes their new, always changeable, background. Since many missing pixels within the images have been removed as well, it is possible to see the space through the cut-outs, which become in this way integrated into the spatial context.

Seven Masks is a long narrative sequence along which public walk with an accompanying sound track in a mp3 player with headphones. Unlike video and film, where pictures “move” while spectator’s body remains still, in Seven Masks the spectator is compelled to move in the space in order to introduce time within the visual material and, in so doing, activate its narrative elements. Also, unlike video and film, the soundtrack is not synchronized in forehand. It is up to the spectator to relate sound and images by walking at a faster pace, coming back and forth, and so on. This system opens up the work for spectator’s interpretation through their active participation.

An Echo reflects a situation through which any of us has been in any moment of our lives: when we hear from a friend an idea that we already said some time before and which was refuted by that very same friend back then. And now he is trying to convince us about his new ideas without remembering that we are the source where they come from.

28 West 27th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, New York 10001
(212) 481-0295

The exhibition focuses on how the art of photography, the photographic process, and related media such as video stills are used to convey content, form, text, and image within a broader context of book arts practices. Artworks featured in this exhibition represent a broad range of book and related arts, including but not limited to books, prints, sculpture, mixed-media installation, new media, and performance art. I am participating with two of my leporellos with accompanying soundtrack.

Organized by Alexander Campos, Executive Director, and Doug Beube, Mixed-Media Artist and Photographer, Curator of the Allan Chasanoff Book Works Collection, and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Photography at Parsons New School of Design.

601 W. 26th Street, Suite 1755

New York, NY 10001

212-243-2735

www.601Artspace.org

When you open a novel –and I mean of course the real thing- you enter into a state of intimacy with its writer… Such a writer has power over distraction and fragmentation, and out of distressing unrest, even from the edge of chaos, he can bring unity and carry us into a state of intransitive attention.

Saul Bellow, The Distracted Public, 1994

601Artspace presents Narrative Objects: A discussion about the artist’s novel, audience, and protracted engagements.  In its most common form, the novel involves a coherent sequence that unfolds around an interrelated set of characters. Taking his novel Illusion as a starting point, artist David Maroto proposes a dual purpose for the artist’s novel: For the artist, the novel serves as a conceptual proposition, linking narratives within other art projects and generating new ideas, but as an artwork in and of itself, the artist’s novel acts as a more humble contribution to the sweeping history of literary prose. Joined by Christopher Ho (artist, curator and author) and Alexander Campos (Center for Book Arts), the panel will discuss how the artist’s novel measures up against other novels and whether increasing interest in the novel among visual artists is intended to counteract tendencies of perpetual distraction. The panel will be moderated by Erin Sickler (601Artspace). Related books and other materials from the participants will be available at the event.

Alexander Campos has over 20 years experience in Arts Management, with positions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, and the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning. Since 2004 he has serve as executive director of the Center for Book Arts, during which time he has organized numerous major exhibitions and overseen the expansion of the Center’s Visual Arts Program.

Christopher K. Ho’s conceptual work examines the possibilities and parameters of advanced art today.  For his 2010 solo exhibition at Winkleman Gallery, Regional Painting, Ho created a series of paintings and an eponymous memoir under the guise of a fictional alter ego, painter Hirsch E.P. Rothko, all while living for a year in a license plate covered shed in the southwest mountains of Colorado.

David Maroto is a Spanish artist based in The Netherlands whose work has been shown internationally. His wide-ranging practice has led him to exhibit his work on psychoanalysis at the Freud Dreams Museum in St Petersburg, whereas his 8-year project to create a board game lead tot he inclusion of his project Disillusion at the Internationale Spieltage in 2006 (Essen, Germany) and other game fairs worldwide.  Illusion represents Maroto’s newest interdisciplinary work.

Erin Sickler is Director of Curatorial Programs at 601Artspace.

We greatly acknowledge the Consulate General of Spain for their support of this event.

Para adquirir Illusion:

Simplemente hay que proceder como con cualquier otro libro adquirido a través del portal Amazon.com, siguiendo cualquiera de estos vínculos:

https://www.createspace.com/3560955

http://www.amazon.com

El Arcano VI del Tarot, El Enamorado, muestra a un joven sumido en la indecisión entre dos opciones. Sus ojos apuntan a una mujer, mientras que sus brazos se dirigen hacia otra. Incluso su vestimenta, un jubón multicolor, refleja su estado de división interna. El protagonista de Illusion se encuentra asimismo inmerso en un proceso de fragmentación progresiva que conduce hacia un final imprevisible. El narrador cuenta una historia que le sucedió hace tiempo, cuando estaba en la veintena, en la que atraviesa una serie de experiencias que él, en aquel momento, no estaba en condiciones de comprender. Es solo en retrospectiva que es capaz de dar cuenta de ello. En Illusion, los personajes no son conscientes de que cambian y se redefinen constantemente en relación a su entorno y a los otros. Esta naturaleza alienante llega al extremo con el protagonista, que se encuentra siempre en la necesidad de un modelo al que imitar. El problema es que, cuanto más cerca está de ese modelo, más en competición entra con él para obtener el objeto de sus deseos.

Illusion es un proyecto artístico en forma de novela. Illusion es asimismo la pieza central de otro proyecto artístico llamado Primer Círculo. Algunas de las obras narrativas que forman Primer Círculo (obras sonoras, vídeo animaciones, instalaciones narrativas, leporellos, cut-outs…) han ido sufriendo un proceso a lo largo del cual se han ido viendo despojadas de sus componentes visuales y sonoros, hasta alcanzar una forma puramente textual. A continuación, todas esas narraciones sueltas han sido integradas en Illusion. De manera que la novela viene a ser una especie de patchwork de diferentes fragmentos, cuyas “costuras” han sido borradas de modo que no sean evidentes a primera vista. Siguiendo el proceso contrario, así como la escritura de Illusion progresaba, iba dando lugar a nuevos proyectos artísticos autónomos, dentro del contexto de Primer Círculo. Desde este punto de vista, Illusion funciona como el eje de una constelación de obras interrelacionadas que, en última instancia, refieren su significado a la novela.

El lector puede elegir entre dos posibilidades: bien leer Illusion como una narración coherente, autónoma, con una narración contada de principio a final; o bien, la experiencia de su lectura ofrece la opción de ser expandida al poner cada pasaje en relación con la obra de la cual procede o de la cual ha sido el origen. Estas obras están conformadas a su vez por cantidad de fragmentos visuales, sonoros y textuales, con lo que el juego de referencias se multiplica y expande, al mismo tiempo que las posibilidades de interpretación de la obra.

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Illusion será objeto de una serie de presentaciones públicas. La primera de ellas tendrá lugar el 14 de junio en 601 Art Space, Nueva York [www.601artspace.org]

Junto con la presentación del proyecto tendrá lugar una mesa de debate alrededor del fenómeno de la novela de artista. El panel estará formado por Erin Sickler (directora del programa curatorial de 601 Art Space), Christopher K. Ho (artista visual de Nueva York, autor de la novela “Hirsch E. P. Rothko”), Alexander Campos (director del Center for Book Arts, Nueva York) y David Maroto. Más información sobre el evento estará disponible en breve.

Más información sobre Illusion, en este link.

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Especificaciones técnicas:

Paperback (rústica)

220 páginas

Tamaño: 13 x 20 cm

Precio: 15 € / 20 $

ISBN-13: 978-1456599225
ISBN-10: 1456599224

Para leer un fragmento de Illusion, haz click en “More”

Fragmento del capítulo 3: Slave Chain

En momentos así, todo transcurre con una lentitud insoportable. Sabes que dejar de echar de menos a una persona es una cuestión de tiempo y ansías que pase lo más deprisa posible. Cuantos más cambios vitales se sucedan desde el instante de la ruptura, más te irás diferenciando del sujeto que la protagonizó, tu yo de antaño, hasta que finalmente no te reconozcas en aquel individuo que tanto sufrió por alguien a quien apenas recuerdas ya. Llegado a ese punto, no eres capaz de comprender cómo pasaste tantas noches de insomnio, ni cómo siquiera hubieras considerado que aquella persona mereciera la pena tanta desolación. Juzgando en retrospectiva, te avergüenzas de haber estado cegado por la intensidad de las circunstancias. Claro que ahora es fácil valorar fríamente lo que entonces te parecía un desenlace dramático. Te encuentras al cabo de un proceso de lentísimo desarrollo, de un movimiento de capas tectónicas psíquicas y emocionales cuya evolución escapa al control de tu voluntad. Al comienzo, cuando la ruptura está reciente, te encuentras en un estado enfebrecido, como si te hubieran amputado un miembro. De hecho, ya lo dijimos unas páginas atrás, esa percepción no dista mucho de la realidad. Puesto que, después de todo, si uno se ama a sí mismo a través del otro, aprender a renunciar a tu ser más querido supone admitir que hay una parte de ti que ha muerto y no va a volver. Sin embargo, incluso muerta, esa parte sigue retornando obcecadamente, como un zombi. Inmerso en la profunda densidad de la situación, sientes cada segundo como extremadamente pesado y parece que lleves una vida entera sufriendo cuando en realidad tan solo han transcurrido un día o dos, o apenas unas pocas horas. Si eres capaz de retener tus impulsos en esos momentos de crisis, cosa que yo no hice cuando no pude resistir la tentación de llamar a Natasha aquella noche; si eres capaz, digo, y dejas que pase el tiempo, empezarás a observar que las crisis se alternan con lapsos de ligereza y bienestar. A medida que el tiempo avanza, estos lapsos son más largos y duraderos, y las crisis más cortas y menos intensas. Las crisis en las que echas de menos al ser amado tienen una estructura ondulante. Al principio, las ondas tienen una frecuencia muy alta, con lo que no dan tregua a tu obsesión. Pero el proceso avanza ya imparable y esas ondas serán cada vez más planas y más espaciadas, hasta que al cabo desaparecen por completo. Puede suceder, curiosamente, que muchos años después sientas por un segundo una reverberación, un eco perdido de aquellas crisis, provocado por un olor que te recuerda a la persona en el pasado querida, o por una canción, o por cualquier otro estímulo que funcione como memento, y que te invade de improviso. No obstante, aquel recuerdo hace mucho que dejó de tener ningún efecto en tu estado de ánimo y puedes incluso permitirte el lujo de disfrutarlo en forma de nostalgia. Aunque al final, si pasa el tiempo suficiente, no queda ni eso, pasto del olvido, como todo.

www.iscp-nyc.org

The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) Spring Open Studios is a four-day exhibition of international contemporary art. The 36 artists, artist collectives and curators from 25 countries currently in residence at ISCP will present work in their studios. Open Studios offers the public access to innovative contemporary art practices from across the globe – seen for the first time together in New York City – providing an exceptional opportunity to engage with the production, process and archives of artists working with a diverse range of mediums, approaches and concepts.

I showed some recent works and projects carried out during my residence period. Among which my new narrative installation Casa Diógenes.

“David Maroto, unique in the ISCP context with his approach and interested in actively engaging the observer in the performative moment which leads to the completion of the storyline as well as opening it up to new readings. In his installation Casa Diogenes (2011) it is through an accumulation of images and textual reference that the personal history of the protagonist unfolds. The poetic and inter-textual qualities of the soundtrack and the images, create a world in which memory, identity and space are accumulated.” Fleur van Muiswinkel. Article appeared in Metropolis M.

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