AMORphous play / Juego sin forma
Process art
Golden Thread Gallery 1-5 November
The elements or materials I prefer to work with have no form, last not long or have a changing aesthetic; those that demand effortless attention but absorb us in them when we play or observe them. This time I want to play with foam and offer a space to people to interrogate its sculptural qualities playfully. I call this process art, where the central concept or tool is to observe oneself through what we do. WELCOME everyone to observe, play and lose yourself in a timeless moment.
Los elementos o materiales con los que más me gusta trabajar son aquellos que no tienen forma, que no duran mucho tiempo o que tienen una cualidad entrópica o una estética esencialmente de lo efímero, aquellos que reclaman una atención sin esfuerzo y nos absorben en ellos. Esta vez quiero jugar y ofrecer un espacio de atención lúdica por corta que sea. Bienvenides a todes a observar, jugar y perderse en un momento sin tiempo.
Elvira Santamaría Torres
Process schedule
Tue 1 Nov: 11-16 hrs
Images Courtesy Golden Thread Gallery
Wed 2 Nov: 12-16 hrs
Images Brian Patterson
Thur 3 Nov: 13-16 hrs
Images Courtesy Golden Thread Gallery
Fri 4 Nov: 14-16 hrs
Images Brian Patterson
Sat 5 Nov: 15-16 hrs
Images Brian Patterson and Siena O'Donnell
Artefacts of Encounter
Saturday 24th September – Saturday 5th November 2022
Our world now seems filled with vast problems beyond our control, with so much that makes us feel powerless. Climate change, radical politics, acts of terror – how can any individual grapple with these?
Yet we do still hold power – the power of a moment’s action. In our smallest action there can be endless possibility and the potential for transformation.
Elvira Santamaría uses her actions to respond to the things that are happening in the world around us. She is an internationally acclaimed performance artist whose work has resonated with audiences around the world. Born in 1967, in Mexico City, she has been based in Northern Ireland since 2011 where her work to date has remained largely unknown.
This exhibition unfolds like the initial drawings of my artistic practice: objects, documents, photographs and videos, through which I hope to bring people closer to the experience and circumstances of a moment. I want to share ideas, concerns, obsessions and discoveries that have been incorporated into my life. This exploration into my memorabilia is an opportunity to revisit and reflect on some basic concepts of action art and performance.
Using public actions, durational performance and installation, her practice has been focused on drawing attention to the changeable, fragile and ephemeral aspects of life. She looks at fundamental elements of human behaviour such as mental suffering, love, death, mourning, resilience and consciousness. Her work has evolved through several ‘action’ art forms e.g. public interventions and performance-installation.
I have accepted that the past, and everything I have made, eventually dissolves into the present, even if documentation, or the objects themselves, remain.
Within the exhibition, Santamaría presents objects used in her past performances. A spent bullet casing from an old conflict, rose petals that were installed on the roof of a bus, a rusty railway spike collected in Myanmar, catalogues and books of past shows, sketches from a show that never was…
These objects act as ‘humble prompts’ to re-engage and revisit her past performative work.
This year, I celebrate 30 years of uninterrupted practice as a performance artist. I want to present my vision of what I consider essential in this art form. I want to give an account of my reflections on the dimensions and aspects of performance artwork, some of which are elusive to the domain of visual arts and even, conceptual art.
I would like to honour this art form, which, to a great extent, has been a framework of my life. Because, despite being ephemeral and often elusive to understand, it has, for better or worse, contributed remarkably to the expansion of the possibilities of reinventing oneself in the world.”
There will be a series of activities, talks, workshops and performances taking place during the exhibition.
Performance Activity Events: TBC
24th September 1pm Opening Performance
11th – 14th October Workshops 1pm-4pm Each Day
£100 full rate, £50 Concession (Booking via info@gtgallery.co.uk)
15th October 1pm Workshop showcase Event
Date TBC Salt Cartography performance
1st – 5th November Elvira Santamaria Durational Performance
Artist Biography
Elvira Santamaría studied at the Antigua Esmeralda and the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. Santamaría has presented her work in festivals, galleries, museums and public spaces in Mexico, Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America. Her most recent public projects include: Encounter with Reconciliation and Corpology of Performative Resilience: Process Art 2019, 2020. In 2013 she was nominated for the ARTRAKER award, which awards creativity in art and conflict in London. Her work has been published internationally. In 1994, she won the First award of the 3rd X-Teresa, The Month of Performance Art in Mexico. She has been an active member of Black Market International performance art group since 2000.
Recent artworks include: the project Corpology of Performative Resilience: Myanmár- Mi-amar (my love). Process art 13 days / 90 hours, Circular train, Yangon, Myanmar; The peace flag is very large (public space performance); Psyche politics (chamber performance) Mex 2019; Encierro Solar / Solar Lockdown (process art 210 hrs), MACO Mex, 2020; The long Count, Liminaris / on the threshold project - Gestures on resilience - Process art, photography and video. Flax Art Studios commission, Belfast; Macuilpa Macuilli, the process and the days / Five times five, the process and the days, 25 hours, Faculty of Visual Arts of Xalapa, Universidad Veracruzana; Macuilli Tlahuilli, Dawn in Process / Five sunrises in process, 15 hours. Sierra de Órganos, Zacatecas, Mex.
