The Absence of Division

Despacio believes that art is strongest when it defies categorization within a single genre, medium, or any other set of socially defined barriers. For this second act, the art space will open its doors to a wide variety of backgrounds and practices. From fishmongers to agronomists, drag queens to press photographers, designers to singers, anyone is liable to stop by and make an appearance, or a statement, at the art center this year.

Thoughts

Thoughts

As Robert Rauschenberg once said, “you can't make either life or art, you have to work in the hole in between, which is undefined.” It is this undefined space that the program’s second act will explore, piercing through divisions of fiction and reality, private and public space, and personal and collective experience.

In this Absence of Divisions, Despacio will seek to actively blur, break, and reconfigure the mental and physical barriers of its visitors, making it impossible to establish with certainty where, or when, art begins and ends.

For three months, Despacio will be taken over and turned into an artist-run space called Karaoke todos los días by five local artists. Guided by the intimate knowledge of what artists need to develop their work and share it with an audience, Despacio will become an alternate version of itself, made by and for the artists it is exhibiting.

The Central Archive will consist of an indoor garden designed by Carlos Fernández, as well as a collection of seeds from local plants to be regularly exchanged with visitors. The garden will be accessible until March 2018.

Information

Information

The Absence of Division is the second of three acts exploring the idea of absence at Despacio from 2016 to 2018. It was preceded by The Absence of Logic (2016) and will be followed The Absence of Art (2018).

Access the program of this act.