November 6 – Anniversary of a Chair Installation

nPostednon November 6, 2016

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nWouldnyou like to see 1,500 wooden chairs in a giant pile, between twonbuildings?

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nHerenyou go:

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nYou’renwelcome!

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nDorisnSalcedo is a Colombian artist who creates statements throughn“installation art.” This particular installation, called Istanbulnand created in Istanbul in 2003, was supposed to create “antopography of war.” Knowing that topography means “anrepresentation on a map of the features of an area,” what do younsuppose Salcedo meant by that?

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Remember,nshe is from Colombia, a nation in South America that has been plaguednby decades of armed conflict and dangerous drug cartels. Salcedo haslsaid of herself that she is a Third World artist who creates artworknfrom the perspective of the victims. Of the defeated. Of thenpowerless.

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nSo…allnthose chairs speak of humans. But there are no humans sitting in thenchairs. So maybe the installation refers to a lack of humans, missingnhumans, humans who have fled or bled and died. One could see thenhaphazard arrangement of the chairs as a reference to mass graves, tonanonymous, nameless victims of violence and war. n

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nLet’sncheck out some more of Salcedo’s work. This one is called Shibbolethn(it was installed in the Tate Modern, in 2007):

Shibboleth refers to a long-standing belief about a particular group of people – especially to such a belief that is now regarded as incorrect or unimportant.