Illusion Reading Room

Project for 11th Havana Biennial, within the project Open Score

La Habana, Cuba 

From May 11 to June 11, 2012

Centro Hispanoamericano de la Cultura. Malecón 17 e/ Prado y Cárcel

www.bienalhabana.cult.cu

Illusion Reading Room is a participative installation: there is a pile of 500 copies of my novel Illusion and two armchairs. In one of them, a permanent reader is reading out loud from the novel. Public are welcome to take one copy of the novel with them for free. It is only asked to do one thing in exchange: to sit down in the vacant armchair and take it over from the reader, by reading out loud a few pages for the rest of the audience. In this way, public become part of the installation as temporary performers, and the novel is read continuously without interruption throughout the whole duration of the Biennial.  

Video summary Illusion Reading Room. 5′ 55”, English subtitles.

Illusion Reading Room es una instalación participativa. En el espacio se encuentran dos sillones, uno de ellos vacante. En el otro hay una persona leyendo la novela Illusion en voz alta. Entre los dos sillones hay una pila formada por 500 ejemplares de Illusion. Se invita al espectador a tomar de la pila un ejemplar de la novela, gratis, siempre y cuando se siente en el sillón vacante y lea en voz alta unas cuantas páginas. Durante lo cual el lector permanente para de leer y guarda silencio. De este modo, el espectador se convierte en agente activo y performativo, leyendo pasajes para los otros espectadores que en ese momento se encuentren en el espacio de la instalación. Asimismo, la novela es leída sin interrupción durante la duración de la Bienal.

Vídeo resumen Illusion Reading Room. 5′ 55”, subtítulos en castellano.

” For over 405 years, from July 25th, 1518 until March 3rd, 1924, the Holy Qur’an was perpetually recited, day and night, in the Department of Mohammed’s Cloak in the Topkapi Palace, in Istanbul.” 

Thanks to the generous support of Mondriaan Fund

Thanks also to the work of the permanent readers, actresses from the theater company El Ciervo Encantado: Nelda Castillo, Mariela and Inés

Illusion – Disillusion

Solo exhibition in Artium, museum of contemporary art of Vitoria (Spain)

www.artium.org

Within the Praxis program

23rd April-24th June

Fanzine de la exposición (español)

In Illusion – Disillusion the exhibition space will be transformed in a sort of “game room”. 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. All of them are eminently participative and multidisciplinary. David Maroto’s practice focuses on the crossover between literature and visual arts, on the one hand, and the use of games as a creative method, on the other. The idea is that the spectator acquires an active role in the process of reception of the work, not only by playing/executing each piece separately, but also when reconstructing the network of relations that lead from one work to the next one.

Public conversation with curator Blanca de la Torre + Illusion Buzzword Bingo in the evening of 25th April. Illusion Buzzword Bingo is the name of a collective game based on an art project in the form of a novel, called Illusion, by David Maroto. Bingo cards are distributed amongst the audience, with the particularity that they do not contain the usual 1-to-90 numbers, but words (a different combination of words in each card). A reader reads a passage of the novel Illusion out loud. Participating public will cross out words in their cards as they appear in the text when uttered during the reading. Like in the original game, there is a prize for the player who calls out “bingo”; this is, for the one who crosses out all words in their card before anyone else does.

Illusion-Disillusion consiste en la creación de un espacio que casi podría denominarse “salón de juegos”. Se mostrarán una selección de obras que conectan  Illusion (proyecto artístico en forma de novela) y Disillusion (proyecto artístico en forma de juego de mesa). Todas ellas poseen un carácter eminentemente participativo y multidisciplinar. La práctica artística de Maroto gira alrededor del cruce entre literatura y artes visuales por un lado, y en el uso del juego como método artístico por otro. La idea es que el espectador adquiera un rol activo en el proceso de recepción de la obra, no solo al jugar/ejecutar cada una de ellas por separado, sino también al reconstruir el entramado de relaciones que las vinculan y que llevan de una a otra.

Conversación pública con la comisaria Blanca de la Torre + Illusion Buzzword Bingo la tarde del 25 de abril. Illusion Buzzword Bingo es el nombre de un juego colectivo basado en un proyecto artístico en forma de novela, llamado Illusion, de David Maroto. Cartones de bingo son repartidos entre el público, con la particularidad de que no contienen los acostumbrados números del 1 al 90, sino palabras (una combinación de palabras diferente en cada cartón). Un lector lee en voz alta un pasaje de la novela Illusion. El público participante habrá de tachar las palabras en su cartón según van apareciendo en el texto y sonando a lo largo de la lectura. Como en el juego original, hay un premio para aquel que cante bingo, esto es, para aquel que tache todas las palabras en su cartón antes que los demás.

Seven Stamps: At the entrance of the exhibition space there is a free publication (a fanzine) available for all visitors. On the last page, you will find some coupons which will be stamped in accordance with the results obtained when you play each game in the gallery. Just by playing one of the games you will get 1 stamped coupon. Obtaining a specific result (winning Disillusion or Empathy, completing the Puzzle, resolving the Tangram, etc.) is worth extra stamps. The gallery attendant will be responsible for providing the corresponding stamps. Next to each piece you will find the rules of the game to play or activate each one. When you obtain 7 stamped coupons, you can exchange your fanzine for a free ticket to the museum.

Siete Sellos: A la entrada del espacio expositivo hay una publicación gratis (un fanzine) a disposición de los espectadores. En la última página encontrarás unos cupones que se van sellando en virtud de los resultados alcanzados al jugar cada pieza presente en la sala. El hecho mismo de jugar una de las piezas vale 1 cupón estampado. Conseguir un cierto resultado (ganar a Disillusion o Empatía, completar el Puzzle, resolver el Tangram, etc.) vale sellos extra. El vigilante de sala se encargará de estampar los sellos correspondientes. Junto a cada pieza encontrarás las reglas para jugar o activar cada una de ellas. Cuando consigas 7 cupones estampados, puedes canjear este fanzine por una entrada gratis al museo.

First Circle

SIGN – Tentoonstellingsruimte voor Jonge Kunst

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.

Open Studios in ISCP

12th – 15th May 2011

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.

Download Newspaper

Book launch (leporellos) at PrintRoom

Saturday December 18th 2010, 16.00 – 18.00

PrintRoom, Schietbaanstraat 17, Rotterdam

Please join us for an informal afternoon with book launches by David Maroto, who will present two new leporellos: Seven Masks and A Dream_Teeth, followed by the presentation of The Book of Paper by Antje Peters and Oliver Helfrich. PrintRoom will serve glühwein and cakes and the shop will be open until six.

David Maroto’s leporellos are books that contain narrative sequences of images that unfold over several meters. They come accompanied by a sound track in an mp3 player with headphones. Unlike video and film, where pictures “move” while the spectator’s body remains still, in David’s narrative installations and leporellos the pictures are printed and still, while the spectator is compelled to move his body 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 beforehand; it is up to the spectator to relate sound and images. This narrative system, according to the author, gives more room to spectator’s interpretation.

PrintRoom is a platform dedicated to artists’ publications, the small press and self-publishing projects by artists and designers, based in Rotterdam.

Thursday – Saturday 13.00 – 17.00
and by appointment: 06-18012478

www.printroom.org

41st Poetry International Festival

Rotterdam, 11th – 18th June 2010

This year the Festival’s theme is Prose and its influence on Poetry. A number of visual artists have been asked to contribute text works to be printed on T-shirts that would be for sale at the entrance hall of the Schouwburg building, which is the main venue of the Poetry International Festival. I participate with A Memory: a transcription of the first chapter of my novel Illusion. T-shirts are printed on a limited edition, only ten copies of each.

Listen to A Memory (1′ 00”):

Links:

www.poetryinternationalblog.org

www.poetry.nl

Deiska ~the Complete Collection

Rozengracht 114, Amsterdam

28th May to 27th June 2010

The complete collection of [De is Ka] is shown to public for the first time in a temporary exhibition organized in conjunction with Art Amsterdam. I participate with the installation 6+6 and 12 Tales Machine.

GAGARIN The Artists in their Own Words

Group exhibition in S.M.A.K. Museum of Contemporary Art, Ghent (Belgium)

4th December 2009 – 14th March 2010

S.M.A.K. is showing a unique & comprehensive exhibition with works of the participating artists of GAGARIN, confronting their textual contributions from the complete GAGARIN oeuvre with works from the museum and special loans. The exhibition includes work by Marc Manders, Allora & Calzadilla, Edith Dekyndt, Lois Weinberger, Philippe Van Snick, Juan Muñoz, Gabriel Kuri, Jimmie Durham, Kirsten Pieroth, Maria Serebriakova, Richard Serra, Willem Oorebeek, Manfredu Schu, Joe Scanlan, Ria Pacquée and others. I participate with Disillusion, which will be in play (during the opening evening only) and display (throughout the show).

On 13th March it will be possible to play Disillusion again, during the event “S.M.A.K. going GAGA”

Lecho de Muerte

Group show in Corrosia! Almere (NL)

2nd October – 15th November 2009

I participate with Seven Masks, an installation formed by a long narrative sequence (16,74 meters x 49 cm) that public walk along with an accompanying sound track in a mp3 player with headphones.

You can get a detailed impression of Seven Masks and its sound track in the section Narrative Sequences.

Corrillos (sixth session)

Corrillos is an initiative of David Maroto and Marjolijn Dijkman, supported by TENT. It is a series of presentations by and for Rotterdam-based artists, designers, architects, curators and theoreticians. The Corrillos meetings started in September 2008, and take place more or less monthly.

The sixth Corrillos took place on 16th June 2009. Hosted by artist Jonas Staal. He invited two couples of guests to choose and present a single recent project to public, to open up a subsequent discussion: cultural activists Gideon Boie and Matthias Pauwels (BAVO) and artists Iratxe Jaio & Klaas van Gorkum.  Dinner was served again by courtesy of Rode Kaapje.