Ariel Guzik
Cordiox
June 1–November 24, 2013
Pre-opening: May 28, 17:30h
Mexican Fiesta (with DJ Tacostán): May 28, 22:30h
Private tour and Bruxo mezcal tasting with the artist and curator: May 29–31, 17:30–18:30h
Ex-Chiesa di San Lorenzo
Castello 5069
Cap. 30122
Venice, Italy
Curator: Itala Schmelz
Cordiox
“The former church of San Lorenzo, site of the Mexican Pavilion at La 55a Biennale di Venezia, is an imposing ruin 20 meters high with several sculptures that remain standing on an abandoned altar. This fact requires the artistic proposal to act with and in favor of the space. Cordiox is a four-meter tall machine that describes space and the environment through sound, creating an exceptional listening experience.
It is rumored that, because of its excellent acoustics, Vivaldi used to rehearse in this very site, and in 1984, avant-guard composer Luigi Nono presented there his opera Prometeo. Guzik’s work continues in that tradition, allowing us to have an auditive journey within the space, which due to its deterioration, cannot be transited.”
–Itala Schmelz
Ariel Guzik, Artist
Born in 1960, Mexico City
Musician, researcher, artist, iridologist, herbalist and inventor. He designs and produces mechanisms and instruments to enquire into the various languages of nature. He is the director of the Nature Expression and Resonance Research Laboratory in Mexico, which for over 25 years has freely explored the phenomena of resonance, mechanics, electricity, and magnetism as foundations for the invention of mechanisms that give voice to nature through music. His research work is the reflection of an intimate need to generate an atmosphere favorable to the enchantment of the world. He intends to preserve mysteries, rather than decipher them, favoring the perception of natural phenomena through the senses, fascination and fantasy. Installations and individual exhibitions of his work have been presented in national and international institutions.
Itala Schmelz, Curator
Born in 1968, Mexico City
Studied philosophy (1988–1992) at the UNAM (National Autonomus University of Mexico). She was the director of Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros SAPS (2001–2007) and of the Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil MACG (2007–2011), where she promoted contemporary art, curating exhibitions of both Mexican and international artists. Her essays have been published in prestigious magazines, catalogues and newspapers. She curated El Futuro Más Acá, the first Mexican Science Fiction Film Festival (Centro Cultural del Bosque, 2003; Biarritz Film Festival and the French Cinémathèque in Paris, 2004; The Fantastic Film Festival in Bilbao and the Reina Sofía Museum, 2005; as well as the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival, 2006). She curated the exhibition Siqueiros Landscape Painter, conformed by 80 paintings by Siqueiros (MOLAA, Los Angeles in 2010 and MACG in 2011). Currently she is developing the Film Museum of the Cineteca Nacional project in Mexico City.
