Carlos Pina

Artist

Carlos Piña

Carlos Piña’s current work is primarily concerned with memory, informed by a thoughtful observance that in order to prevent the suffering and war we have already lived through, one must preserve and be conscious of the ‘duty of memory’ we have to our children. Using the events of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and working with the concepts of amnesia and reminiscence, Piña’s work aims to investigate histories of power construction, truth, memory and collective silence. Believing that all historical events, though removed, are relatable of one owns concept of a personal history, Piña’s work attempts to slow down or put a stop to the gradual process of forgetfulness we all experience, both individually and as a society, caused by an overabundance of information from the mass media, a society in which the past is discarded in favour of the constant search for the new.

Carlos Piña and Maria Cosmès have collaborated on many works since 1998 under the name Collective Stidna, most notably the series, To Leave The Closet. The works in this series ranged from installation to performance and urban intervention. To Leave The Closet focused on both personal and societal psychotherapeutic imagery, informed by both Carlos and Maria’s’ experiences in treatment, asking the question, “If so many people in our society need medication, who is the ill? The people or the society?” The aim of the Stidna Collective, through these works and others, is to create a forum for the artists to relate to each other and the audience on an intimate, person-to-person basis, not as a nameless faceless collective. This aim was in keeping with the earnest and cathartic nature of the works in the series To Leave The Closet, which sought to unveil and cast light on the shadow of judgment, fear and misunderstanding around madness and taboo. Not only are Piña and Cosmès long standing collaborators, they also work together on eBent International Performance Art Festival which takes place each year in Barcelona and Madrid.

Performance

International Visiting Artists: Spain

FADO is pleased to present Barcelona-based artists Maria Cosmès and Carlos Piña in their Toronto premieres in the on-going International Visiting Artists series.

Maria Cosmès’ work focuses on the relationships, interpersonal relationships, links and ties with one another. Using rope, string, thread, rubber bands, Cosmès builds her performance in collaboration with the audience, each performance is informed by time, space and place. As an anthropologist, she is particularly interested in these differences, and at times, similarities.

In Liens Maria Cosmès acts as mediating interpreter allowing herself to be bound and handled by real ropes which end up forming an autonomous network in which our movements become ambivalent, longing to escape, soothe or submit, in short, they relive that everyday monster, sometimes pleasant or seductive, which at the bottom is the most terrible of all pitiful ghosts: society.
Deborah Puig-Pey

Carlos Piña’s current work is primarily concerned with memory, informed by a thoughtful observance that in order to prevent the suffering and war we have already lived through, one must preserve and be conscious of the ‘duty of memory’ we have to our children. Using the events of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and working with the concepts of amnesia and reminiscence, Pina’s work aims to investigate histories of power construction, truth, memory and collective silence. Believing that all historical events, though removed, are relatable of one owns concept of a personal history, Pina’s work attempts to slow down or put a stop to the gradual process of forgetfulness we all experience, both individually and as a society, caused by an overabundance of information from the mass media, a society in which the past is discarded in favour of the constant search for the new.

We live in societies in which the silence has been imposed, where the impunity has been established under the name of reconciliation, where the amnesia has been promoted so that the powerful do not have to ask for pardon for they did in the past. We are silenced persons, sons and grandchildren of silenced persons, generations plenty of silence. Ignoring the pain that our ancestors have suffered, we live as unknown and incomplete persons; we are, therefore, persons without past for the loss of our historical, family and cultural memory.
Carlos Piña

Performance Yellow

This fragrance opens us to the question, has the show started? It's winter, the theatre is colder than the street and the room is filled with people and all their winter smells: wet faux leather, down, too much shampoo, and beer breath. The atmosphere is a trickster. Am I late, am I early?

Top Notes

yellow mandarin, mimosa

Middle Notes

honey, chamomile, salt

Base Notes

narcissus, guaiac wood, piss, beer