Ojo Atomico to close.
After five long and eventful years of work at the venue in Calle
Mantuano, we have decided to close it down and embark upon a new
phase of the Ojo Atomico.
The hostility displayed towards us by the council and by the regional
government of Madrid ( the former in a veiled manner and the latter
openly, but both equally severe), coupled with the absence of dialogue
with the Ministry of Culture have brought us to this closure - as has
happened with many other independent cultural spaces in recent months.
We could take it upon ourselves to resist, were it not for the fact
that we are starting to experience 'burnout'. As such we feel it best
to adopt a change of strategy rather than become entrenched in
positions which are untenable in the medium-term. They've won - at
least, the battle which started in 2002 with the opening of the '29
enchufes' organisation For the first time, an alternative art scene
appeared in Madrid, a scene characterized above all by a willingness
to open itself up to the exterior. A quick look at the programmes of
29 Enchufes, Liquidaci=F3n Total and the Ojo Atomico amongst others,
amply demonstrates the extent of the internationalisation we attained,
and which can only now be sustained by our exile (forseeable or
already taken).
I won't try to hide the bad taste left in my mouth by this, as we
shall become another lost generation, and as I mentioned a year back
for me this one will be the last. My age, 45, and my aspirations lead
me to focus on more institutional projects, in which I shall be able
to have at my disposal resources which I have not had up to now . We
leave behind excellent work which is already in the process of being
forgotten. A week ago, I heard a well known Madrid art historian
say that the political art scene in Madrid ended in 2001. Should I
respond? Or explain, at this stage of the game, what is art and what
is politics? Let 'em forget about us! Madrid does not appear to need
art, rather work which is public, muncipal, olympian.
One of our failed objectives from this phase of the Ojo Atomico was to
attain a legal framework for the sup****t of creation in Madrid. In the
doomed Manifesto of Artistic Agents of Madrid (
www.ojoatomico.com/comunicados/do***ento4.html ) we described in
detail the situation faced by those in the field of creation, and
organisation of independent spaces in the city. This text was so spot-
on that a lackey of Carlos Bazt=E1n called me on the mobile to request
that we did not publish any more manifestos if we wanted to maintain a
'dialogue'. That was the moment I realised the impossibility of the
situation and decided to give up on ever attaining any kind of
dialogue. And let's not even mention the CAM - what with all that had
gone on, they're on my 'blacklist'. It is of note that only the AVAM
and the Uni=F3n wrote in sup****t of our basic premise - our demands for
a legal framework to regulate the spending of public money on
sup****t for the arts. Neither the ADACE nor the Consejo de la Cr=EDtica
bothered to respond. Maybe they thought this was mixing art with
politics, or, as someone high up in the Matadero art centre put it,
those of us working outside the institutions would have to 'learn to
toe the line'.
It is even more regrettable that now, just as in 1991 when I opened my
first exhibition space, the only place in Madrid an artist can go to
start a coherent career is the international departures terminal of
Barajas air****t. But now the world has got so much smaller, and there
is nothing which can hide the ridiculous cultural policies in place
here - the White nights, the Mataderos, the open-Madrids, the homage
to the 'Movida' and a slew of content-free disorientated art centres
with their parochial , 'good-time' ethos.
So we close, happy with the considerable amount we managed to give
and the considerable amount we received. Our thanks to those who, in
whatever way, have been there with us and to the artists who have come
from all parts of the world to participate in the project without any
financial incentive.
Friday 21 marks the closure, from 20:00 on. We invite you to
particpate in an action with Javier Perez Aranda, who will transform
the familiar installation of assorted objects from the upper loft of
the exhibition space into one large piece of furniture. This will
later be left in the designated space for collection by the city
refuse disposal department, taking advantage of the fact that that day
is scheduled for a collection. There won't be a bar, so if you want
to, bring your own booze. Winter clothes are recommended.
www.ojoatomico.com
Trad.: B Roberts Dec. 2007
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