TransCultural Minga

Jean Ormaza • Ecuador/USA
Raul Ayala • Arqentina
Valeria Andrade • Ecuador
Pedro Cagigal • Ecuador
Jorge Espinosa • Ecuador
Fabiano Kueva • Ecuador
Dayana Rivera • Ecuador
Ana Carrillo Rosero • Ecuador
Paul Rosero • Ecuador
Leon Sierra • Ecuador
Juan Ormaza • USA
laboratorio-vinculante.blogspot.com/
For their collaborative project the artists—including filmmakers, dancers, performance and visual artists—will use their bodies as a medium for a series of public ‘performances.’ Acting like a Minga—a term used in the Andes of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia to mean a community that comes together to undertake needed actions, such as the building of new roads, a school or a home—the artists are pursuing communal projects that they hope will provide them with new insights and ways to interact with the local communities in which they live and work. Currently they are considering how to expand upon an action that they performed in Ecuador, Argentina and the US. For this action the artists inserted themselves into an everyday situation—such as walking down the street—then fell to the ground, remained there for ten seconds and then went on their way. If anyone asked them about their actions, their response was, “I wanted to see what it would be like to be dead.” In Buenos Aires, a police officer helped the artist up. In Boston the action was preformed three times. In one instance, a bystander criticized the artists, saying that their action too closely paralleled the very real and dire situation of homeless people collapsing in the street; while another said it reminded him of a time he fell and no one offered him a hand; and another expressed annoyance at being taken advantage of. In Quito the artists’ action was more surreal: The artists gathered at a race track, the starting gun when off and the four dropped to the ground. The artists are now collecting the various responses to their actions and examining both these responses and the way in which their actions interrupted the fabric of life. This information will teach them something about each location and, armed with this new information, determine their next action. They also are experimenting with regenerating their blog, photos albums and the use of Internet maps to disseminate images of their actions. Central Gallery Hours: Monday through Thursday 3 - 6 PM and Sunday 2 - 5 PM

Free and open to the public.