ALLESTIMENTO I'TS JUST A GAME-ALMOST READY!

stop!

it's just a game - a L'Aquila il 31 maggio 2012

Ecuadorian artist Maria Rosa Jijon’s personal exhibition titled “It’s just a game” curated by Martina Sconci will open at the MU.SP.A.C (Museo Sperimentale di Arte Contemporanea)  Thursday, May 31st, 2012 at 6.30 pm.

This is the fourth contemporary art event to take place within the project “Percorsi Migranti”  (“Migrant trails”) promoted by the Coordinamento Ricostruire Insieme in collaboration with MU.SP.A.C with the purpose of fostering intercultural encounters in L’Aquila and elsewhere, by means of various disciplines.

A thought by Simon Bolivar opens the exhibition: with utmost disillusionment the “Libertador” of Latin America speaks about the future of his region, casting a pessimistic glance on the future and inviting the public  to reflect upon the meaning of migration.

In the video “It’s just a game” infrared cameras record border crossing by migrants. Playing with the ambivalence of the meaning of the word “game”, meant as a playful activity and as “prey”. Images, ironically accompanied by repetitive and alienating videogame music generate reflections on the means of control. In a cyberage whereas the zeroing of spatial and temporal distances offers opportunities for greater freedom in terms of overcoming barriers, moving fast and acting remotely, we are still “preys” or “pawns” of a videogame controlled by society. The State surveils us but we cannot surveil the State.

Signs used in anti-immigration demonstrations have been retrieved by the artist from various xenophobic websites to create the installation “STOP!”, and communicate a sense of danger and alert.

The installation “Extraterritorial. Remake 2004-2012”  surrounds the public with pages of the Bossi-Fini law, while members of the Latin American community of Rome read its articles. By doing so they remind us of the problems they have to face, such as those related to their children’s citizenship.

“Sujeto Movil” stirs up a reflection on the image of the foreigner in contemporary society, whereas he/she is given physical or behavioral features outside of traditional rules, with the purpose of generating fear, rejection, perplexity. By doing so the support of an a-critical audience accustomed to consume messages without discerning their   contents and purposes is being gained. People that appear in the video, silent in front of the camera, show themselves for what they are. The ensuing image represents an ironic criticism of genetic, ethnic and racial differences, as these were attributed to migrants through the original use of anthropological photography in studies on genetic diversity.

“Kika” is an Ecuadorian woman that dreamt of migrating to Europe to live a better life. She tells us in confidence about her story of failed migration, reminding all of us that “ we are condemned to a life of choices, but not all of us have the means to choose”: (Z. Bauman)

MUSPAC MUSEUM