Embassy + Pavilion at thewrong biennale

http://roundandroundwego.xyz

curated by: VR-Kommand (Cybernetik Speleologists)  are Victoria Ascaso, Jaime de los Ríos and Pablo Martínez Garrido. artists of the Pavilion: Marco Land, Helmut Smits, Beatriz Sánchez + Severine Beata, Marta PCampos, Eva Balmisa, Azahara Cerezo, Amaia Vicente, Jaime de los Rios, Victoria Ascaso, Pablo Martinez Garrido. embassy: at MEDIALAB TABAKALERA (Donostia, Spain).

In The Wind-up bird chronicle of the japanese author Haruki Murakami, a recurrent idea appears which tells us that a bird, whose sound reminds us of spring-loaded mechanism (ric-ric) is in charge of making the world go round. The protagonist’s thinking revolves around the idea of how something as complex as the rotation of the Earth (and everything this embodies: basically all aspects of life, the way in which society works, its pleasures and sufferings, the importan and the trivial...) can be powered by a small being executing such an absurdly simple act.

Complex systems and infrastructures keep our world going. A vast communication network has transformed our perception of the world’s dimensions and even personal relationships are no longe limited by spatial restrictions.

We could (and as a matter of fact, we do) sit down and think about different aspects of reality and write extensive technical essays on how technology brings us together as well as drives us apart while drafting philosophical treatises on the consequences of this expansion. Nevertheless, a look from the outside is sometimes required in order to go against the current and look for the modest animal that winds it all up. And, while we’re at it, ask why it does so.

With Eso que da cuerda al mundo (round and round we go), we pretend to answer these questions through a series of digital artworks that are very disparate in the way in which they use the technological tools but all coalesce in these artists’ view on what makes the world spin. They intertwine separate means to discuss what turns the wheel and allows for communication on a planetary scale and is in charge of carrying fragments of memories, love or a simple reminder to bring a loaf of bread with you.