Intimacy with a (non)site
UNGROUNDING
unearthing
production/reproduction
overburdened
MAN DOOR HERE
sobre(in)visible
600 kgs.
ESPEJOS
Obsidian Pulse
Autodefensa
Inframundo
This stone comes from the Yule Marble Quarry in Marble, Colorado. This quarry was discovered in the 1870s and is located underground at an elevation of 9500 feet.
2024
production/reproduction comprises a series of ceramic replicas of a mining drilling bit collected in one of the visits to the inside of a prominent coal mine in western Colorado. By inserting the phallic artifacts into a vacuum-sealed package, Ana speculates about the commodification of the mining technologies that make possible patriarchal ecologies of extraction that conceive Nature —exclusively— as a reproductive resource in the service of industrial capitalism.
A complementary sculpture utilizes a conveyor belt chain collected from the mine as a pedestal. From here, a copper pipe holding the original iron-made drill bit erects.
2023
sobre(in)visible links research on the obsidian industry in the Sierra de las Navajas (Hidalgo, MX) with an impulse to portray different aspects of automobiles, always inserted in detailed frames that suggest a reading of the machine as an identity prosthesis. Motivated by the challenge of confronting/amalgamating two profoundly complex and historically iconic cultural symbols, this a series of sculptures conceived as handcrafted replicas of auto parts carved in obsidian, as an ironic gesture that suggests the re-signification of the sacred through materiality that connects the past with the present, to later speculate on the future.
2021
Moreover, a photographic archive informs an ongoing investigation that revolves around a moribund and obsolete automotive industry.m a stratified social order composed of several layers that refer to what is explicit/implicit in the gaze.
Being involved in contingent production methodologies, with the sensitive capacity to respond to an innate need to provoke leaks allowing to relate to different objects, techniques, and materials and, from there, intertwined concepts and ideas through a suggestive aesthetic that proposes an alternative reading of what remains super visible within a commonplace.
Being involved in contingent production methodologies, with the sensitive capacity to respond to an innate need to provoke leaks allowing to relate to different objects, techniques, and materials and, from there, intertwined concepts and ideas through a suggestive aesthetic that proposes an alternative reading of what remains super visible within a commonplace.
Produced by Silvio González in Teotihuacan, Mexico.
Obsidian is classified by mineralogy as glass since its atoms do not make up a crystalline structure; it is hard and fragile, with an attractive luster, transparent and translucent, but its main characteristic is its straight and sharp type of fracture. Invoking both the fragility and the hardness of obsidian, 600kg is a one-piece stone of more than half a ton hanging from a ceiling. Behind the simplicity of the action lies a rather complex process of extraction, transportation, and treatment of the material, which represents a challenge in the obsidian mining industry.
This exercise is conceived as a paradoxical action where chains and tackles contain a material that proposes a glance at the destruction caused by the techniques, processes, and methods used to extract this mineral.
Yet, it also suggests the rawness of the material and
the artisan labor that must be put into it in order to remain an important economic activity.
Obsidian from Sierra de las Navajas, Mexico.
Mined by Alejandro Castelán.
This exercise is conceived as a paradoxical action where chains and tackles contain a material that proposes a glance at the destruction caused by the techniques, processes, and methods used to extract this mineral.
Yet, it also suggests the rawness of the material and
the artisan labor that must be put into it in order to remain an important economic activity.
Obsidian from Sierra de las Navajas, Mexico.
Mined by Alejandro Castelán.
The ritual of human sacrifice was a very widespread practice in Mesoamerica. In the Mexica society, it was embedded in the belief of Tezcatlipoca ––creator of the earth, the sky, and the inferior world, always invisible and simultaneously present at all times. During the period of heat and drought, when the lack of water and excess sun could carry fear among the population, a young man was selected to be sacrificed. The ritual consisted of cutting his heart out with an obsidian spearhead.
Echoing the ritual impulse, Obsidian Pulse is a video installation comprised of a series of heart-shaped sculptures disposed of in a digital underworld of sorts.
Echoing the ritual impulse, Obsidian Pulse is a video installation comprised of a series of heart-shaped sculptures disposed of in a digital underworld of sorts.
2019
The relationship between the stone and the three-dimensional digital world aims to open up a space where a contemporary world collides with a mythical ritual. The hearts turned into stone seem also to beat, linger and change their shape. The video aims to shed light upon antique processes and rituals that became strange and unnatural after colonization but that, when created, contain the potentiality of something as magical as changing the weather.
Made in collaboration with Julieta Gil
Video x Julieta Gil
Sound x Sofia Acosta
Made in collaboration with Julieta Gil
Video x Julieta Gil
Sound x Sofia Acosta
Due to its physical qualities, obsidian was the most important raw material for ancient Mesoamericans. To this day, obsidian mirrors represent an important source of income in Teotihuacán and La Sierra de las Navas, being one of the best-selling products.
The simplicity of their round shape and the material's brightness make it one of the most representative insignia of pre-Hispanic spirituality, materiality, and worldview. Poetically, obsidian mirrors have a suitable metaphor for images; they reflect the observer and the object at the same time.
This exercise examines the methodology in which these objects are produced: medium-sized stones are extracted and then subjected to a punching process that results in cylindrical pieces, which are lapped later to obtain around fifteen mirrors.
For this work, Ana works with the remains and the excess of the extraction process so as to reflect on the automatization of the procedure.
The simplicity of their round shape and the material's brightness make it one of the most representative insignia of pre-Hispanic spirituality, materiality, and worldview. Poetically, obsidian mirrors have a suitable metaphor for images; they reflect the observer and the object at the same time.
This exercise examines the methodology in which these objects are produced: medium-sized stones are extracted and then subjected to a punching process that results in cylindrical pieces, which are lapped later to obtain around fifteen mirrors.
For this work, Ana works with the remains and the excess of the extraction process so as to reflect on the automatization of the procedure.
2019
In the form of a sculptural installation, ESPEJOS is a series of hollow obsidian cylinders disposed of in the space modularly, allowing different combinations to create architectural space. The methodology of the installation seeks to alter a serial production process to examine the possibility and scope of reconfiguration of the form, but not the matter.
Produced by Silvio González in Teotihuacan, Mexico.
Produced by Silvio González in Teotihuacan, Mexico.
Obsidian stone has been deeply involved with spiritual practices. Its shiny constitution and deep black color have converted it into the symbol of Tezcatlipoca ––an ancestral deity creator of the universe in the Mexica society–– whose most representative shield is an obsidian magic mirror that radiates a smoke capable of defeating his enemies. Taking this narrative as a standpoint, Autodefensa (Self-defense) is a series of sculptures of spiked contemporary weapons –such as rifles, knives, and axes– made with obsidian that tries to preserve the protective condition of the material while simultaneously making a comment upon the contemporary use of armament.
These series of weapons were sculpted with an absolute lack of ergonomics, making them hard to hold and manage, as if they were protecting themselves from themselves. These objects are both a seductive series of artifacts that don't pose the threat of physical harm and yet a glorification of the object and its symbolic value, which aims to recover the spiritual and magical condition of artillery.
Made in collaboration with Julieta Gil
Produced by Juan Castelan in Sierra de las Navajas, Mexico.
These series of weapons were sculpted with an absolute lack of ergonomics, making them hard to hold and manage, as if they were protecting themselves from themselves. These objects are both a seductive series of artifacts that don't pose the threat of physical harm and yet a glorification of the object and its symbolic value, which aims to recover the spiritual and magical condition of artillery.
Made in collaboration with Julieta Gil
Produced by Juan Castelan in Sierra de las Navajas, Mexico.
2019