Bombon, Barcelona - Art Barcelona's guest gallery -
Anna Dot and Josep Maynou
For ART-O-RAMA 2021, Bombon proposes a project with the artists Anna Dot and Josep Maynou centered on the use of language in their practices.
Anna Dot’s work is based on the study of translation and communication acts, paying special attention to the processes of reading and writing, as well as the use of new technologies.
Her piece Giving space to confusion is a tribute to the action carried out by members of The Collective Actions Group in 1977 in Moscow. Dot noticed a translation mistake in their English version of the work that changes the meaning of the banner.
Dot remade the banner with the following message in Russian: “I AM NOT COMPLAINING OF ANYTHING AND I LIKE THIS TEXT, EVEN THOUGH I’VE NEVER READ THESE WORDS BEFORE AND I DON’T HAVE A CLUE WHAT THEY MEAN”. This banner has been hung in different public places in order to create what she calls “a little moment of confusion”.
Continuing with the issue of translation, Dot will present Siskin or a speculative study on the possibility of a language of plants, a series of screenshhot images. These images were generated by a visual translation app on her phone that she was using to translate a Russian botanical book. The artist realised that when she applied the device on the images, certain words showed up, as if the plants wanted to speak.
These photographs are part of a performance that the artist presented at Picasso’s museum in Barcelona in which she introduced this topic -The language of plants- as a rigourous academic and scientific discovery.
In Maynou’s case, language is essential in his performances. The artist explains stories that mix real and ficitional experiences, in a kind of stand-up comedy format. These performances are staged in sets constructed by the artist. The objects that he produces are strongly connected to these stories and often become props in his live presentations.
In his installations, the rugs function as artworks that contain messages or images that the artist finds or hears in the street, as well as practical pieces of furniture to sit and lay down. For the artist, rugs are objects that are used to gather around, objects that favour social interactions and an exchange of stories.
The booth also includes a screen with the videos that Maynou records with his cell phone. He challenges himself to accomplish tricks and acrobatic actions with caps, socks, balls and other domestic objects.
