V. [u]nf_1 and V. [u]nf_1.01

2014 - 2015 2017 - 2019 2019 - 2022

Vis. [Un]necessary Force_1, or under its acronym V. [u]nf_1 (2014-2015), explores the ways in which the civilian population survives in contexts of extreme violence exerted by legitimate and illegitimate power groups in Mexico.

Experimentation with additive sculpture technologies (3D) during the Vis. [Un]necessary Force project has resulted in V. [u]nf_1.01 (2017-2019-2022). Audio devices are no longer an object trouvé or ready-made, but an additive sculpture recreation with an specifically designed audio system.

V. [u]nf_1 and V. [u]nf_1.01 addresses the subject of contemporary violence from the citizens’ experiences. It derives from shootings that people accidentally chanced upon, recorded with their cell phones and posted as videos on YouTube. With V.[u]nf_1.01 we are merging interactive, participatory involvement of users into the emotional experience of violence within the hybrid, networked space of a multimedia installation organised with micro soundscapes, sculptural objects, a map, and texts.

V. [u]nf_1

V. [u]nf_1 consist of 74 audio digital players shaped like a Caracal F 9x19 mm pistol.

This sound installation consists of 74 digital audio players shaped like a Caracal F 9x19 mm pistol. Each one of these devices is integrated with a Micro-SD card that contains the audio recording, in mp3 format, of a shoot-out. These audios are taken from cell-phone video recordings made by citizens who find themselves trapped in extremely dangerous situations and who later put them into circulation via online platforms like YouTube.

Each one of these sound devices is integrated with a Micro-SD card that contains the audio recording, in mp3 format, of a shoot-out.

Between the years 2015 and 2016, V. [u]nf_1 was exhibited at the Contemporary Art Museum of Tamaulipas (MACT) in Matamoros; at the Carrillo Gil Art Museum (MACG) in Mexico City; the Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC) in Bogota, Colombia; ESPAI 10 Laboratorio de las Artes Contemporáneas in Barcelona; and in HANGAR Centre/Production/Research/Visual-Arts Barcelona.

V.[u]nf_1.01

V.[u]nf_1.01 build a large format sound-texture composed of the same number of acoustic logs: shootings recorded by citizens caught in confrontations between law enforcement and organized crime in Mexico.

V. u]nf_1.01 is an asynchronous sound installation and 3D sculptures. Contain 100 portable digital loudspeakers shaped like a 9mm Caracal gun [3D prints], 40 Micro-SD cards, 40 mp3 sounds and a modular structure.

Sound tracks are played individually on each of these sound devices. At the end of the day and as the batteries run out of charge, sound devices/guns go off gradually so the circle of operation/sound non-operation/silence is restarted.

V. u]nf_1.01 was presented for the first time in 2017 at the ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany, at the ISACS 17 International Sound Art Curating Conference Series under the curatorship of Peter Weibel and Morten Søndergaard. In 2018, it was presented and activated at the Museum of Modern Art (MAM) in Mexico City.

V.[u]nf_1.01 was on exhibition at Laboratorio de Arte Alameda in Mexico City (November 2018 - March 2019); at the WRO Biennial (May - July 2019) in Wroclaw, Poland; at Vincent Pricce Art Museum VPAM Los Angeles, US; (April - July 2022); and at Kunstskolen I Bergen, in Bergen, Norway (November 2022).

Edition of 100. Dimensions: variable. Duration: indeterminate.

INTERACTION

The audio of the sound installation originates from contents generated by the population; in which the audio devices are autonomous (they require neither amplifiers nor computers), and which demand a direct interaction with the same public since it is the visitor who has to activate the devices.

Both works are interactive installations, to "operate" they must be activated by the visitor. Several or all of the audio players can be activated at the same time. The visitor may decide to leave them on or turn them off before leaving the exhibition space.

EXHIBITIONS

V. [u]nf_1.01 2022 November 17 - 28. Kunstskolen I Bergen, Bergen, Norway.

V. [u]nf_1.01 2022 April 30 - July 30. Vincent Price Art Museum. Los Angeles, United States.

V. [u]nf_1.01 2019 October 2 – 28. Casa Refugio Citlaltépetl. Mexico City, Mexico.

V. [u]nf_1.01 · 2019 May 15-3 July. WRO Media Art Biennale 'Human Aspect'. WRO Art Center, Wroclaw, Poland.

V. [u]nf_1.01 · 2018 November 29-31 March 2019. Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico City, Mexico.

V. [u]nf_1.01 · 2018 October 31. Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City, Mexico.

V. [u]nf_1.01 · 2017 September 28-30. ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany.

V. [u]nf_1 · 2017 October 5 - 18: Zonas fronterizas. Arte sonoro de México, Barcelona, Spain.

V. [u]nf_1 · 2017 April 22nd-24th. Goldsmiths University of London, London, UK.

V. [u]nf_1 · 2016 February 6th - March 3rd. Contemporary Art Museum (MAC), Bogota, Colombia.

V. [u]nf_1 · 2015 October 30th - January 24th. Carrillo Gil Art Museum (MACG), Mexico City, Mexico.

V. [u]nf_1 · 2015 March 6th - May 30th. Contemporary Art Museum of Tamaulipas (MACT). Matamoros, Mexico.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

2019 V. [u]nf_1.01 Selected as part of the WRO Media Art Biennale 'Human Aspect'. WRO Art Center, Wroclaw, Poland.

2017 V. [u]nf_1.01 Exhibition at the international conference ISACS17 Resonant Worlds: Sound, Art and Science, curated by Morten Søndergaard and Peter Weibel, in the ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany.

2016 V. [u]nf_1 entered to the collection of the Contemporary Art Museum (MAC), Bogota, Colombia.

2015 V. [u]nf_1 First Artist’s Prize of the Biennial of the Frontiers, Institute for Culture and Arts of Tamaulipas (ITCA) / National Institute for Arts and Culture (FONCA), Mexico.

PRESS

Débatty, Regine. (September 5, 2022). ‘The sounds of absence and narco-violence’ We Make Money Not Art. URL: narco-violence

Miranda, C. A., & Mejía, P. (July 15, 2022). ‘«Sonic Terrains» at VPAM tells the story of Latinx sound art.’ (English). Los Angeles Times. Available online:

Recino, Eva. (July 15, 2022). ‘Exhibition Spotlights Multigenerational Latinx Sound Artists.’ (English). KCET. Available online:

Duran, Adrian. (July 15, 2022). ‘Sonic Terrains in Latinx Art [REVIEW].’ (English). The Latinx project. Available online:

Fernández, Sandra. (2016, February 23). Prohibido olvidar, la historia aún vive en Latinoamérica. Arte Al Límite. Bogotá. Online edition.

Gracia Pérez, Laura Angélica. (2016, February 19). "Entrevista a Luz María Sánchez en “Prohibido Olvidar".” Colombia: Colombia en directo.

Martínez, William. (2016, February 12). ¿Qué dicen los mexicanos en medio de las balaceras? El Espectador. Bogotá. Online edition.

Moody-Castro, Leslie. (2015, March 4). Bienal de las Fronteras (Biennial of the Frontiers) ArtPulse Magazine. Online edition.

Moody-Castro, Leslie. (2015, April 3). "Border Lines". ArtForum. Online edition.

Realidad vs. Ficción; plasman el narco. (2016, enero 12). Reforma (Zócalo). Saltillo. Printed edition.

Sanchez, Luz María. (2015, April 13). detritus 1 & 2 and V.F[i]n_1&2: The Sounds and Images of Postnational Violence in Mexico. Sounding Out! Online edition.

Talavera, Juan Carlos. (2015, March 6). Traza mapa imaginario de la violencia. Excelsior. Printed edition.

Tercero, Magali. (2015, March 14). Los sonidos de Luz María Sánchez. Laberinto. Milenio. Printed edition.

Zambrano, Lourdes. (2015, February 28). Contagia violencia a bienal fronteriza. Reforma. Printed edition.

ISACS17: Luz María Sánchez Intermittent Space

Description

Under the chairmanship of Morten Søndergaard and Peter Weibel the conference »ISACS17: Resonant Worlds. Curating Sound, Art & Science« took place at the ZKM from 28–30 September, 2017. The conference addressed the resonant worlds of sound, art, science and curation.

Intermittent Space

‘Intermittent Space’ is an image coined by G. Didi-Huberman in his essay Survivance des lucioles (2009), where he proposes—in opposition to the machine totalitaire—the possibility of an interstitial and intermittent space in which [human] individual sparks subsist. Given the current state of things, it seems necessary to go back and halt on two fundamental concepts: Agamben’s state of exception and Levi’s grey zone. Through these, plus: Didi-Huberman’s construction machina versus luciole and Samuel Beckett’s image of each [of us] searching for its lost one, I propose to ponder—through the example of a transdisciplinary artistic practice and the attempt of construction of Poiesis—on how defenceless individuals endure—scintillate—in a space where unethical economical profits—through extreme violent mechanisms—have contaminated all circles of coexistence.

Sound and visual artist, Luz María Sánchez, was born in Guadalajara, Mexico where she studied both music and literature. Through her doctoral studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, she focused on the role of sound in art since its mechanical inception in the 19th century.

Working with both sound and moving images, Sánchez’s pieces are arranged to envelop the subject in a sensorial experience while preserving a feeling of physical immediacy. Her work operates in the political sphere, working with themes like the Mexican diaspora, violence in the Americas and the failure of the nation-state.

Video Documentary: ZKM | Videostudio Duration: 1:07:29 Category: Lecture/Talk Date: 28.09.2017 to 30.09.2017

MEDIA

THE CREATIVE RESEARCH

Anne Huffschmid (2022): "Los sentidos de lo sensorial". Capítulo de la video-serie La investigación creadora - nuevos modos de expandir los procesos investigativos.

Anne Huffschmid (2022): "Hacer sonar – escuchar y componer". Capítulo de la video-serie La investigación creadora - nuevos modos de expandir los procesos investigativos.

Anne Huffschmid (2022): "La escucha prácticas y piezas sonoras con Kathrin Wildner y Luz María Sánchez". Capítulo de la video-serie Narrating Violence: Artistic Practices and Research from Latin America and Beyond.

ART+TECHNOLOGY series. Bloomberg Media Group/Hyundai.

Luz María Sánchez/Richard Mosse. (Premiered March 28, 2021). Curator: Macarena Gómez-Barris. Season 3. Episode 12: Violence: Seen & Heard.

Part 1: Violence: Seen & Heard. Series ART+TECHNOLOGY. Bloomberg Media Group/Hyundai Motor Company. URL:

Part 2: Subverting Violence With Violence Series ART+TECHNOLOGY. Bloomberg Media Group/Hyundai Motor Company. URL:

Part 3: Calling Out Violence. Series ART+TECHNOLOGY. Bloomberg Media Group/Hyundai Motor Company. URL:

PBS PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE

Brown, Jeffrey. (March 30, 2020). “How Mexico City became a global center for contemporary art.” Newshour. (English). Public Broadcasting Media PBS. Especial TV production.

Barajas, Joshua. (February 26, 2020). ‘The search for Mexico’s drug war victims, distilled into sound art.’ (English). Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

Listen complementary interview in Sound Cloud (English).

COLOQUIO VIS CDMX / CASA REFUGIO CITLALTÉPETL CULTURA CDMX

“Arte y miradas críticas” (October 24, 2019) Vis Fuerza [in]necesaria. Casa Refugio Citlaltépetl, Secretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México.

“Arte y violencia” (October 14, 2019) Vis Fuerza [in]necesaria. Casa Refugio Citlaltépetl, Secretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México. .

“Arte periodismo y violencia” (October 10, 2019) Vis Fuerza [in]necesaria. Casa Refugio Citlaltépetl, Secretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México.