We would like to thank Gloria Crespo and the newspaper ‘El País’ for this great photo essay about our work published at 'El PAÍS Semanal’ this Sunday . (Spanish only)
“Nothing is more abstract than reality” -Giorgio Morandi 1890-1964
We, humans, abstract the idea of “reality” from our perceptual experience with the physical world. Therefore, the concept “reality” is an abstraction, an integrated sum of perceptions. The abstraction as such does not exist, it is not a physical entity; but it represents all entities at our conceptual level of consciousness. The concept of reality doesn’t seem to be specifically tied to anything concrete. Reality could (hypothetically) be totally different and it’d still be a reality. But, this is just a point of view. The philosophical discussions concerning this matter (how abstract is the concept “reality”?) are and will go on forever because we are “inside the box”. We are part of our own reality.
For both of us what we find the most interesting is the way an abstract image can trigger memories. When an image, or a part of it, cannot be interpreted as something specific, not only our perception but our imagination comes into play. It is then when photography shows its full potencial.
“Green was the silence, wet was the light, the month of June trembled like a butterfly.” ―Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets
Neither poetry nor photography depicts an objective reality. As any art form, they represent a singular and subjective version of reality unique to the poet or photographer. But both art forms share common attributes. The poet and the photographer study a specific subject through a personal point of view, they both reflect and reframe a malleable reality from a perspective directly related to the memories, experiences and thoughts of the autor. .
2018, #34100 Platinum/Palladium on gampi paper over gold leaf
“Art does not reproduce the visible but makes visible. The very nature of graphic art lures us to abstraction, readily and with reason. It gives the schematic fairytale quality of the imaginary and expresses it with great precision.” Paul Klee, “Creative Credo”
What Paul Klee is saying us is that we do not see all that is around us until the artists shows it to us. We believe that any artwork must have a certain amount of mistery, unreality. As the artist Lee Ufan explains, the relation between expression and reality, or between expression and idea, implies a kind of continuity. When the expression is identical to reality, there is not room for imagination. When you are in front of an artwork, in dialog with it, you need to be able to move into another dimension. If this possibility of transportation does not exist, then what’s the point of this expression?
