Who knows where the time goes I, 2013
Gonzalo Lebrija
Photo: Courtesy the artist
Collection
Series of 15 b/w-prints
70 x 85 x 4 cm (each)
Who knows where the time goes, refers in its title to the Nina Simone song and documents a performance based on Lebrija's own act of shooting books. Through this action Lebrija intends to establish an intimate dialogue between specific existential concepts—the theory that values are primarily demonstrated in acts not words; that these acts, like ripples on the sea, are persistent. It also alludes to a possible suspension of time, and by default brings us back to reality—and to the actual impossibility of this notion. This is in contrast with the permanency of the ideas found in poetry and literature, through the chapters, paragraphs and sentences in books. The discourse is developed through the process of selecting the literature, and the subsequent sublime act of shooting the books. The installation is composed of thirty black and white photographs of these books, at the moment of impact by the bullet. The action behind each image remains the same, but the result always different, both poetic and violent. Alongside these photographs is a six-minute video presenting the scene of the action, including both full shoots and close-ups of the books flying through the air. Is this an act of violence, with its inevitable association of burning books and extreme right-wing beliefs? Or is it simply a repetitive action, bringing to mind Nietzsche's theory of eternal recurrence? Although the great thinkers write these books, at the end they are no wiser about the human condition than the ordinary man.
*1972 in Mexico City, Mexico | Living and working in Guadalajara, Mexico
70 x 85 x 4 cm (each)
Who knows where the time goes, refers in its title to the Nina Simone song and documents a performance based on Lebrija's own act of shooting books. Through this action Lebrija intends to establish an intimate dialogue between specific existential concepts—the theory that values are primarily demonstrated in acts not words; that these acts, like ripples on the sea, are persistent. It also alludes to a possible suspension of time, and by default brings us back to reality—and to the actual impossibility of this notion. This is in contrast with the permanency of the ideas found in poetry and literature, through the chapters, paragraphs and sentences in books. The discourse is developed through the process of selecting the literature, and the subsequent sublime act of shooting the books. The installation is composed of thirty black and white photographs of these books, at the moment of impact by the bullet. The action behind each image remains the same, but the result always different, both poetic and violent. Alongside these photographs is a six-minute video presenting the scene of the action, including both full shoots and close-ups of the books flying through the air. Is this an act of violence, with its inevitable association of burning books and extreme right-wing beliefs? Or is it simply a repetitive action, bringing to mind Nietzsche's theory of eternal recurrence? Although the great thinkers write these books, at the end they are no wiser about the human condition than the ordinary man.
*1972 in Mexico City, Mexico | Living and working in Guadalajara, Mexico
Gonzalo Lebrija, born in 1972, lives and works in Guadalajara, Mexico.
He uses the mediums of photography, video, sound, and sculpture to capture the aesthetic experience of time. With an almost humorous nihilism, he explores the passage and futility of life, often focusing on the vertiginous possibilities of frozen moments.
Lebrija has exhibited extensively in Latin America, the USA and Europe. Recent solo exhibitions include Unfolded Paintings in Travesía Cuatro (Guadalajara, 2017), Vía Láctea in Palacio de las Bellas Artes (La Habana, 2016), Unfolded in Galerie Laurent Godin (Paris, 2015) and Museo de Arte de Zapopan (2015); Measuring the Distance in La Casa Encendida (Madrid, 2015); the 13th Istanbul Biennale (2013) and the exhibition Possibility of Disaster, curated by Humberto Moro at the Center for the Arts in Monterrey (2013).
He uses the mediums of photography, video, sound, and sculpture to capture the aesthetic experience of time. With an almost humorous nihilism, he explores the passage and futility of life, often focusing on the vertiginous possibilities of frozen moments.
Lebrija has exhibited extensively in Latin America, the USA and Europe. Recent solo exhibitions include Unfolded Paintings in Travesía Cuatro (Guadalajara, 2017), Vía Láctea in Palacio de las Bellas Artes (La Habana, 2016), Unfolded in Galerie Laurent Godin (Paris, 2015) and Museo de Arte de Zapopan (2015); Measuring the Distance in La Casa Encendida (Madrid, 2015); the 13th Istanbul Biennale (2013) and the exhibition Possibility of Disaster, curated by Humberto Moro at the Center for the Arts in Monterrey (2013).