¿Qué es lo que determina la condición escultórica?
Más allá del volumen de los materiales o el lugar que ocupan, un suceso escultórico está determinado por cómo se enuncia de manera singular, las condiciones espacio-temporales de un cuerpo; en este sentido, lo escultórico puede entenderse como la comprobación de los efectos de la materia en un momento y circunstancia específica.
Dichos cuestionamientos relacionados al quehacer escultórico han llevado al artista mexicano Ricardo Rendón a proponer su práctica como una serie de experiencias de comprobación física, en donde la categoría estética de la obra está determinada por las condiciones en cómo la materia trabaja en el espacio. La exposición que abre al público bajo el nombre Sucede Ahora, es una colección de eventos espaciales en donde queda de manifiesto el cómo la fuerza es la intensidad de la interacción, a partir de ensambles, escultura e instalación a muro, explorando condiciones de la materia y fenómenos físicos del espacio como el peso, la tensión o la gravedad que tiene efecto en los materiales convocados.
Rendón se refiere a estos ejercicios como acciones en tiempo presente que amplían su noción de "momento creativo" a partir de la ejecución plástica en materiales como: fieltro, cuero, hierro y vaciados de concreto, articulados como sistemas de comprobación y experimentación de los efectos de la materia, dando como resultado un ejercicio escultórico que alude a lo intrínseco de su lenguaje.
Texto: David Miranda, Cd. de México 2022
We are accustomed to finished objects. We consume products, services and even images constantly, although less frequently do we stop to think about the processes that are carried out to create them. What lies behind the creation of a piece? The idea. The manufacturing processes. The craft.
The craft in Ricardo Rendón's work acquires particular qualities. It is the knowledge of masonry, of leatherwork, of bricklaying, that also allows the creation of the pieces. And the hands. Creating directly with the hands, building from an idea, making the decisions to materialize them and passing through each of the stages that allow the creation of the work. Along with the hands, there is also an alert mind in each of the moments of creation, attentive and concentrated, being present.
In that concentration, then, the mind will stop remembering the past or projecting into the future. It will have the need to stabilize itself in the present moment, in order to carry out the crafts in a precise manner, to find the necessary balances and weights in each of the works.
Balance, force, the tension of materials. These will be the insistent mediators in Rendón's works. The materials of the pieces will be felt, leather, iron, concrete. But the artist will not limit himself to using them to build his pieces. He will invite them to interact explicitly with new agents: the force of gravity, flexibility, the weight or lightness of each of the elements, their elasticity or rigidity.
Now, in order to contemplate the systems that allow the encounter, in order to appreciate the qualities of the materials, attention is necessary, a state of silent observation. This silence will allow us to find the great protagonist of Rendón's work: the void. In a more stealthy way than the other agents, the void will act in these works allowing the generation of the forms that we observe. Just as the silences that, interspersed between sounds, allow the existence of rhythm, the void will allow the works to be configured. The void is no longer mere absence. On the contrary, by delimiting itself and taking shape, it becomes an integral, primordial part of Rendón's work.
The exhibition of Ricardo Rendón's works takes a journey through what craft means and attentive, paused observation. The present mind will allow concentrated work through the hands. The systems will facilitate the encounter of solid materials with new agents, less visible forces — mute —, but resolute and conclusive. From the encounter, from the conditions of space, from the weight and flexibility of the materials, from the height at which each of the parts is sustained, a unique balance can be reached. The balance in each of these pieces only exists in one place and at a specific moment. So, when do the materials meet?, when do they fit together?, when do the systems find balance? It is at this moment, it is happening now.
Text: Alejandra La Rotta, Bogotá 2022
