A project by Pia Rönicke
About the project Throughout her career as an artist, Pia Rönicke (Roskilde, Denmark, 1974) has researched historical archives mainly linked to architectural, urban and modern design projects. Rönicke s films, installations, videos and photographs explore the influences and interrelations between these cities environments and the individuals living in them. Rönicke s project displayed in the Museo Tamayo combines artworks about research on the buried history of the Chávez Ravine community in Los Angeles, starting with the installation Scanning Through Landscapes (2008-2010) and continued in the film Aurora (2012). Chávez Ravine was an urban settlement largely inhabited by descendants of Mexican immigrants. In 1949, the Los Angeles government negotiated the purchase of the houses from the owners, who would receive a new home after the urban regeneration process was finished. But the plans were abandoned, leaving many of the members from this community homeless. In 1960 the area was converted into the stadium for the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. Nevertheless, the residents who remained in the neighborhood tried to resist eviction; Aurora Vargas was one of the last residents who refused to abandon her house, which led to her imprisonment in 1959.
The installation Scanning Through Landscapes in the Museo Tamayo consists of a double slide projection. The images show the Chávez Ravine settlement from the 1940s until the present day; plans and sketches by the architects Richard Neutra and Robert Alexandre in charge of the failed architectural regeneration project as well as eviction records of the last residents, including that of Aurora Vargas. Aurora is a film based on archive documents, excerpts from other films and television broadcasts, newspaper articles and interviews with former residents of Chávez Ravine. These all combine to create a narrative that takes place at an indefinite time between 1959 and 2012; the boundaries between fiction and reality are blurred as the documents and facts are presented within an imaginary structure.
Works Aurora, 2012 Double projection 33 minutes, 16 mm film transferred to HD Scanning Through Landscapes, 2008-2010 Double slide projection Elysian Dream, 2002 Double monitor 10 minutes 30 seconds
Concepts Project: in the Museo Tamayo, unlike a solo or individual exhibition, this format is created around a single artwork or specific research project, normally by invitation from the museum and intended for a specific space within the institution or developed through a research grant. Installation: refers to a type of artwork in which the artist makes use of the exhibition space and context as part of the composition, employing a variety of artistic materials and media. Installations can be temporary or permanent and the spectator can often pass through them. Artistic research: a discipline developed in the past decade to produce artworks, fiction, theories and new areas of knowledge. Using research methods, this practice of creating art draws on other disciplines such as science, history, sociology, psychoanalysis or pedagogy.
About the artist Pia Rönike (Roskilde, Denmark, 1974). Lives and works in Copenhagen. Studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and at the California Institute of the Arts. Participant in numerous individual and collective exhibitions. Her solo exhibitions include Dream and Action Find Equal Support in It, gb agency, Paris (2012) and Andersens Contemporary, Copenhagen (2011); Rosa s Letters, Goloss, Copenhagen (2010); Scanning Through Landscapes, Walden Affairs, The Hague, Netherlands (2010); Facing-An Usual Story from a Nameless Country, Montehermoso, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain (2009). With Jacob Fabricius and Elisabeth Jorgensen, Rönike co-founded Appendiks, a space for art, visual culture, with a book store and an office in central Copenhagen that publishes art books and audiovisual materials.
Ideas to consider How do you use the architecture around you? How do you think it relates to the public policies in your city? How does it affect your emotions? Thinking about historical stories, where do you think the limits between fiction and reality are?
Education program Workshops Ask at the museum reception for this exhibition s workshop Montaje sobre recuerdos For the general public Learning Space Tuesday to Friday: 10:00 am 14:00 pm Saturdays and Sundays: 12:00 pm 16:00 pm Guided Visits For the general public, special and school groups With prior reservation School Visits Guided visits to the exhibitions for nursery, primary, junior and senior-high school and university students Tuesday to Friday, 10:00 am 12:00 pm Duration: 30 40 minutes Small fee to cover costs For reservations, contact: educacion@museotamayo.org Public program in parallel to exhibition For more information, please check the schedule at: www.museotamayo.org
A p r o j e c t b y P i a R ö n i c k e December 11, 2012 February 19, 2013 Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo Paseo de la Reforma y Gandhi s/n Bosque de Chapultepec México, D.F. 11580 T (52 55) 52 86 65 19/29 www.museotamayo.org Opening Times Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm Admission Fees $19.00 pesos Free entry for students, teachers, senior citizens with valid ID Free entry on Sundays Images credits Front and back: Scanning Through Landscapes archive, 2008-2010 Inside: Stills of Aurora, 2012 All images: Courtesy by Pia Rönicke Credits Curator Magnolia de la Garza Curator assistant Ximena Amescua Museography Rodolfo García Design Lídice Jiménez Audiovisual Department Jacobo Horowich Registrar María Marines Liliana Martínez Education Mónica Amieva Editor Arely Ramírez Moyao Communications Amanda Echeverría Beatriz Cortés Pilar Altamirano