Diego Vidal reflects on the lack of communication in today's society with an intervention in which three human figures, close but isolated from each other, turn their backs towards the world around them. Taking as a starting point the ideas of the South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han on the alienation caused by the abuse and misuse of new technologies, the Galician artist tries to draw attention to the loss of contact with the proximate reality, specifically with the natural environment.
We live in a hyperconnected culture at a global level (hyperculturality, according to the South Korean philosopher) which brings benefits for the relationship and exchange of information but which also has a less pleasant counterpart: the isolation that we as individuals establish with our "machines".
The intervention consists of three pieces made of resin and iron, anchored to the ground and located in the Bosque de Galicia, at the foot of the Hejduk Towers. The figures, men and women holding mobile phones, present their disfigured faces in total mimesis with the phone screen, absorbed in the circle of new technologies and cut off from the world around them.
The figures "form a sculptural ensemble, close to one another, but at the same time cut off from each other and from the rest of the environment", Vidal explains. Some even turn their backs on the view of the towers of Santiago Cathedral, which can be seen from the top of Gaiás.
"Everything is a priority simultaneously in the present. This results in an agglomeration of images, events and information that make any contemplative delay impossible. This is how we go zapping through the world. Byung-Chul Han.
- Artist: Diego Vidal
Diego Vidal (Boqueixón - A Coruña, 1997) develops his artistic practice mainly in the field of sculpture, combining works of natural scale with large-scale sculptures, in which he creates faces and human bodies that he modifies and deforms at will to represent characteristic aspects of our present time, as is the case of this artistic intervention within the Rebels/Evenings in the landscape cycle. His creations have received several awards, including the 2nd prize in the Xuventude Crea 2022 competition in the plastic arts category.
He began his artistic training at the Maestro Mateo School of Arts in Santiago de Compostela, specialising in sculpture (Extraordinary Prize for Professional Artistic Education in Galicia 2017 for the Xuízo (Trial) project). After moving to Valencia in 2020, she graduated in Fine Arts at the Universitat Politècnica of València. She studied a Master in Artistic Production at the same university and participated in numerous group exhibitions before returning to Boqueixón, her native village, where she is currently combining her PhD studies in Art at the UPV with the preparation of her first solo exhibition and her participation in several exhibition projects in public spaces.
- Curator: Mercedes Rozas
Graduate in Geography and History, specialising in Contemporary Art from the University of Santiago de Compostela and member of the Board of Trustees of the Museo do Pobo Galego.
Since the 1980s she has been working as an art critic as a lecturer and in publications for newspapers such as La Voz de Galicia and Nós, specialised magazines and public institutions.
She coordinated the artistic projects Galicia Terra Única (1997), Xacobeo 99 (1999), Pegadas Xacobeas (1999), Galicia Cidade Única (2000), Capitalidades Culturais (2000), Galicia 1981-2001 (2001), X Aniversario de la Casa de Galicia en Madrid (2002) and 25 anos de Caixa Galicia en Santiago (2002).
As a curator she has participated in the group exhibitions Espello do interior (Mirror of within), Diálogos co silencio (Dialogues with silence), Camiñantes (Walkers), Itinerarios artísticos (Artistic Itineraries), Expresións Técnicas (Technic expressions), Guieiros (Guides), Camiño de Santiago luz e vida (Camino of Santiago light and life), Hipervínculos (Hyperlinks), A arte da semellanza (The art of resemblance) and Camiño de Volta (Way Back), among others. She has also curated solo exhibitions by Eugenio Granell, Xesús Carballido, Manuel Ayaso, Quintana Martelo, Xosé Luis de Dios, Xenaro Martínez Castro, Luis Gabú, Aurichu Pereira and Leopoldo Nóvoa. He has collaborated with institutions such as the Xunta de Galicia, Afundación, Deputación de Ourense, Museo Barjola, Instituto Cervantes or the National Museum of Krakow.
