Los subrogados | Les substituts [The Surrogates] brings together eight performance artists, four in Mexico City and four in Montréal. Each artist was invited to create or re-create a work that would be performed simultaneously by a delegated artist in the other city. The fact that it is easier today to access video documentation – and especially the opportunity for real-time broadcast of performances on various electronic platforms – is transforming both how artworks are manifested and how they are received and interpreted. This event offers a reconsideration of performance from the point of view of its new, contradictory dimension: while it seems less and less necessary for spectators to physically travel in order to attend the production of an artwork, artists are more and more encouraged to constantly be on the road to participate in residencies, festivals, biennales, and other events. The famous statement by Mladen Stilinović, “An artist who cannot speak English is no artist,” could today be updated as “An artist who doesn’t travel is no artist.” The Surrogates interrupts this economy based on the long-distance movement of bodies by offering a new way to apprehend presence at a live performance, thanks to exchanges and mutual trust among artists, without having to voyage to the other latitude.

Co-presented by the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MAC), in collaboration with Darling Foundry, Los subrogados | Les substituts was organized by Véronique Leblanc, guest curator at the MAC et Alejandra Labastida, assistant curator at the MUAC, Mexico City, with the complicity of the artists

Artists:

Montréal
Juan Caloca, in collaboration with Nicolás Medina Mora
Nadia Lartigue
Alicia Medina
Guillermo Santamarina

Mexico
Sarah Chouinard-Poirier
Catherine Lavoie-Marcus
Helena Martin Franco
Martín Rodríguez

Curators:

Véronique Leblanc, guest curator at the MAC
Alejandra Labastida, associate curator at the MUAC

The event will take place as part of Place Publique, at the Darling Foundry.


Los subrogados es un evento que reúne a ocho artistas de performance, cuatro de la Ciudad de México y cuatro de Montreal. Cada artista fue invitado a reactualizar o a crear una nueva obra para ser realizada por un artista delegado en la otra ciudad. La facilidad con la que ahora accedemos a la documentación en video y la posibilidad de verlo en tiempo real a través de plataformas electrónicas ha transformado las maneras en que se manifiesta, se recibe y se interpreta el performance. El evento propone repensar esta práctica a través de su realidad contradictoria, en la que recorrer físicamente la distancia ya no es necesario, al mismo tiempo que la escena artística está impulsada por la necesidad de moverse constantemente para participar en residencias, festivales, bienales, etcétera. La famosa declaración de Mladen Stilinović: “Un artista que no habla inglés no es un artista” podría actualizarse como “un artista que no viaja no es un artista”. Los subrogados interrumpen esta economía de tránsito de cuerpos al ofrecer nuevas formas de pensar la presencia directa en el performance a través de ejercicios de trueque y confianza mutua entre extraños, sin necesidad de cambiar de latitud.

Este evento es co-organizado por el Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) y el MAC, como parte de Place Publique, en la Fonderie Darling. Fue concebido por Véronique Leblanc, curadora invitada del MAC y Alejandra Labastida, curadora adjunta del MUAC, en colaboración con los artistas.