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Mercedes Azpilicueta

I am an artist and performer and just finished my res­i­dency at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. I earned an MFA from the Dutch Art Institute/ArtEZ, Arnhem and a BFA from Universidad Nacional de las Artes, Buenos Aires; where I also did the Artists Program from Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. My work has appeared in different exhi­bi­tions, fes­ti­vals and events, including The Poetry Readings Program, doc­u­men­ta13, Offener Kanal Cafe, Kassel, 2012; Composing through words, Het Veem Theatre, Amsterdam, 2013; Dutch Art Institute Instanbul, Galata FotoÄŸrafhanesi FotoÄŸraf Akademisi, Istanbul, 2013; Performatón, Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires, 2014; Artistic Justice: Positions on the Place of Justice in Art, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 2014; Doors of Perception, A Tale of a Tub, Rotterdam, 2014; Todo Afuera Adentro, Móvil, Buenos Aires, 2015; Motion / Labour / Machinery, TENT, Rotterdam, 2015; The Economy is Spinning, Onomatopee, Eindhoven, 2016; and Geometric Dancer Doesn’t Believe in Love, Finds Aspiration and Ecstasy in Spirals, SlyZmud Gallery, Buenos Aires, 2016. In 2017 I am a Pernod Ricard Fellow at Villa Vassilieff, Paris.

Who am I?
Why do I take over?

I am interested in creating new ways of exchanging knowledge and experience. Having a performative practice that feeds more and more from other disciplines like dance and music, the opportunity of taking over Jacco´s work is challenging in terms of its performative elements but also in terms of understanding and dealing with the complexities of such work.

 

I think that by changing the usual context where a practice is developed we reconfigure the usual way of doing things, and by doing so we find ourselves in the need to invent new solutions. I could imagine that spending a month in a university and working in a collaborative way will enlarge my perspective when it comes to define the potential of a creative context. I also think that my presence, performance and interactions with Jacco´s colleagues will affect not only my practice but will also affect their own work in unpredictable ways.

 

Both parties will have to cope, sometimes lose control and moreover, trust each other. The unexpectedness or serendipity of this project creates the perfect milieu for new interactions and mutations to happen. Giving such contexts, I am very much interested in terms such as rupture, dissent, disagreement and maintaining spaces of play.

 

When thinking of Jacco taking over my work I imagine him having to do a wide range of different things such as research, video, interacting with dancers, writing scores, just to mention a few. I am very curious to see how his input, associations and ideas will alter and modify my work and network.

 

This exchange will contribute, if not bring new questions, to the idea that we can and we should connect and understand each other more, no matter how different ways we have when doing things. Flourishing might be a question of interdisciplinary understanding.

Introducing a managerial-entrepreneurial turn

It would be interesting to see how Jacco figures out different and sustainable sources of income. In other words, how to generate revenue and eventually profit which can be fed back into the practice to enable it to grow, prosper and sustain itself independently.

Producing new object-based works within the studio

Certain immateriality is a constant in most of my projects. Apart from video, text, sound and bodies I do not include any other elements in my practice. Maybe it's important here to discuss what is materiality in our respective disciplines or if we are taking the concept at face value; for example, making more “material” or “object based works”. In either way, I think I would like to see if Jacco can produce physical work such as sculptures and installations. These installations could be used in the future for further performative projects.

Researching live practices in Amsterdam during the 60´s and 70´s

I would like to research unknown female artists that have been part of the Amsterdam artistic scene during the 60´s and 70´s, taking part in de Appel performances nights -for example. I am curious to see how Jacco will take over this research, which selection he would make and what elements of study he will take on board.

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What do I do?

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I usually work on a flow of thoughts and different activities and tasks according to the projects I am involved in. Also, each project or work has several stages, for example, the research, the dreamy moment where everything is possible, the experimental phase, the hands-on phase, the rehearsals if its a live work, the post-production mode, which I have to say, it is the most tedious one, and so on.

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On a daily basis, I write emails and try to do most correspondence at one moment during the day. I always try to reserve a moment to do some reading and writing, this is when I notate ideas to develop or ideas related to the project I am working on. I use words and drawings to do this.

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Depending on the type of work, a few of my regular activities include collecting words and things I hear, drawing, editing videos, meeting a video editor, writing, meeting a vocal trainer, moving in the space, meeting dancers I have worked with, meeting artists that I collaborate with, skyping with colleagues, working on sound pieces with a sound-engineer, listening to music and reading.

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Because I also work with my body I train physically, either by swimming or doing yoga. When I am preparing for a live work the days befores require more physical awareness and I need to be more concentrated. Each project changes the mode I work in.

At the end of the day I try to see the work of other artists that I am interested in and that I get inspired from.

This needs work
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