Nicolás Consuegra: The space of the place. The place of the space

NC-arte presents The space of the place. The place of the space by Nicolás Consuegra, an invitation to reflect on the exhibition spaces, their characteristics and possible interinstitutional relations.

The project reviews the symbolic construction of exhibition spaces and how this construction is intimately linked to their function and location. The idea is to rethink the notion of site-specific through the relationship that the artist establishes between two spaces in Bogota: NC-arte and  The National University Art Museum.

Both institutions encourage the creation of works for a specific place in the country. Hence, Consuegra almost traces one place onto the other by means of architectural reconstruction. The National University Art Museum appears on the NC-arte’s site almost as a parasite on its walls, corridors and windows. With this gesture, the artist seeks to establish connections between these places and provides a scenario to rethink the historical background of exhibition spaces and the polyvalent relationships that these elements establish with their social and cultural context.

The space of the place. The place of the space is at the same time the container and the content; it proposes a debate around what we can understand as an installation project. The title itself questions the use of language, inviting the viewer to reflect on what the space is and the characteristics that determine the place.

The construction that the public will face when crossing the entrance of NC-arte, reproduces The National University Art Museum to such an extent that the artist has wanted to capture the particular acoustics of that place. A musical piece titled Ocho semanas para seis instrumentos (Eight weeks for six instruments) specially composed for this project by the musician Rodolfo Acosta and interpreted by the musical ensemble Ensamble CG will be developed throughout the show as a reminder of the dynamics that currently occur in the campus of the National University, where music students practice their instruments around the Museum, to be propelled by and between the architectural construction. The musical piece that will be braided during the eight weeks of the show by different moments of action and pause, is perceived as a termite that perforates the installation audibly. It allows to navigate the space through sound putting in the foreground the listening to become aware of the site.

In this sense, the displacement of The National University Art Museum to the space of NC-arte points out the possibility that it is not the work of art that moves from one place to another but the location itself, prompting reflections on the expectations (social, cultural, etc.) we have about exhibition spaces and how these influence the “staging” of certain artistic works that are articulated with the particularities of the spaces that shelter them.

The space of the place. The place of the space, is presented as a grand installation, a daring architectural project and a fascinating artistic construction.

About the artist

Nicolás Consuegra (Colombia, 1976) studied Art at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá and completed a Master’s degree in Arts with an emphasis on Sculpture and Interdisciplinary Processes at the Pratt Institute in New York. He currently holds a Master’s degree in Art, Culture and Technology (ACT) at MIT, Cambridge. Nicolás has been invited to show his work at some of the most challenging exhibition spaces and artistic events in Colombia, such as the Luis Angel Arango Library, the Alliance Française - Bogotá, the 41st, 42nd and 43rd National Artists’ Salons and the Medellín International Assembly of Contemporary Artistic Practices-MDE07. Internationally, Nicolás Consuegra has been the guest of venues such as Itaú Cultural (São Paulo), CCA Wattis Institute (San Francisco), Bard Graduate Center (New York), Santral (Istanbul) and Havremagasinet (Boden), among others, and has participated in The XI Biennial of Monterrey-FEMSA and the 20 Biennial Paiz (Guatemala). The projects developed by Consuegra are sensitive to the context, spatiality, audience and moment when they are exhibited.

He currently lives and works in Boston, and in Bogotá, Colombia.

Ensamble CG
Founded by Rodolfo Acosta R. in Bogotá (Colombia) in 1995 with the intention of interpreting contemporary music, especially from Colombian and Latin American composers. Since then—and taking advantage of the malleable nature of its conception—has presented some 150 vocal, instrumental and electroacoustic works by composers from all latitudes, most of them as absolute or local premieres. These presentations have taken place in and outside Colombia at the Luis Ángel Arango Library (Colombia), Sala Zitarrosa (Uruguay), Auditorium Theater (Argentina), University of Cuenca (Ecuador), CASPM (Venezuela), and Sala Isidora Zegers (Chile), among many others, and have been programmed in festivals and specialized cycles such as the International Festival of Contemporary Music of Bogotá, the Latin American Music Festival of Caracas, the Núcleo Música Nueva in Montevideo and the Colón Electronic Cycle.

Members of the ensemble:
Rodolfo Acosta R.: Director
Beatriz Elena Martínez: Voice
Laura Cubides: Flute
Guillermo Bocanegra: Guitar
Eduardo Caicedo: Percussion
José Gómez: Clarinet
Diego García: Cello