Case F
A hacienda as an “instrument” to notice and wonder
This case study is part of a full-length paper entitled, A Family of Sensibilities: Presented through 6 practitioners doing work grounded in Materiality + Embodiment. Read about it here. [Link will be available once article is published]
Intro
For Claudia, the materials in her projects are like the parts of a “symphony”, or the “characters” in a story, or in a building — they have a voice. Tecoh is a site-specific art space in the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. It is where residencies and immersive programs are hosted for local and international artists, educators, scientists, researchers, and youth. Claudia recalls the ceiling of the red room, and asks, “What would the room be without those geometric sculptures?” As a “character in the story, [they] avoid direct light, but they are also like a companion in the space — inviting you to notice, to see, enjoy, and wonder.”
In her understanding, embodiment is to be aware of being in one’s body. It includes feelings and sensations — as one enters in touch with the outer world. Embodiment in Tecoh is critical because it is all about perception, noticing how it feels — to see, to listen, to be in touch with this reality in multiple spaces and “edges”.
Claudia emphasizes the notion of social embodiment. She says, “There are many configurations of Tecoh that bring you in contact with the ‘social body’ in various ways, as compared to another space like an apartment.” Tecoh has textures, spaciousness, weather, and the jungle. All these elements bring one to presence in ways that have particular qualities and forms. For Claudia, Tecoh is a designed laboratory (or instrument) that affords being in touch with oneself, the space, and with each other. Claudia says the content of relationships, ideas, connections, insights, realizations, and creations that emerge from this kind of embodiment are very different from what would emerge in other spaces. She ponders, “The space informs the content of the relationships, and the quality of what can be felt.”
The Case
What is the context and the project you’re talking about here?
In the context of art, Tecoh is a site-specific art piece that was commissioned to Cuban artist Jorge Pardo to take an Hacienda in the Mayan Jungle and convert it into a living work of art. The idea/piece/concept became an “instrument”. The “Hacienda” was transformed into an “imaginary place”. As if one enters a place that comes from “deep imagination”. At the same time, it confronts oneself with time and space. Time in the sense of the “structures of the past” (i.e. the preserved Mayan houses, the Hacienda itself, etc.) that evoke a moment in history. But it also invites oneself to reconsider space as an artifact that constantly plays with your perception. A constant invitation or provocation to see, to notice, to feel, to enjoy, and to wonder. This work of art is more like a “living sculpture” than a “habitable architecture” — as a space, it is much more flexible. It opens up for ambiguity to contemplate, to be, and to explore, rather than provide a known structure (e.g. a kitchen, or a living room). This quality of being in-between something that is defined and not defined opens a whole field of potential ways of existing in the space. Tecoh is usually visited by staff from La Vaca Independiente, and local and international guests (e.g. artists, scientists, researchers, educators) — through learning journeys that integrate education, Mayan culture and heritage, science, and nature.
Do you think of this project as practicing “embodiment” (i.e. as in living in one’s body)? In what ways does it show up?
Embodiment means the awareness of being in your body. That is, the feelings, and sensations, as we enter in touch with the outer world. Embodiment in Tecoh is critical because it is all about perception, noticing how it feels, to see, to listen, and to be in touch with this reality in these multiple spaces, its “edges”. And for being in the jungle, one has to be present and pay attention, first of all, to be safe.
In the context of a “social embodiment”, there are many configurations of Tecoh that bring you in contact with the “social body” in various ways — as compared to another space like an apartment, etc. Tecoh has textures, spaciousness, weather, and the jungle. All these elements bring one to presence in ways that have particular qualities and forms. Tecoh is a laboratory and instrument to be in touch with yourself, the space, and each other. What emerges from this kind of “embodiment” is hence very different from what would emerge in other spaces. Because the space informs the content of the relationships, and the quality of what can be felt.
Do you understand this project to be one of working with “materials”? What would these “materials be”? Could you give an example?
Materials are the earth, ceramics, wood, plaster, sisal, stones, steel, and grass. The materials make the physical objects, the building, the lamps. They have a presence, colors, a vibration, a story, a craft.
What are the ways people interact with them?
As people “dwell” in the space, the materials start “talking” to them, and developing a relationship. The materials are not meaningless, neutral, or invisible. They have to be taken into account, and considered. They talk, scream, and call for attention, because they want to be noticed and brought to the conversation.
How do you describe the role of the specific material, and materials in general?
The materials are like the parts of a “symphony”, they are “characters” in the story, in the building. They have a voice. For example, the ceiling of the red room — what would the room be without those geometric sculptures? They avoid direct light, but they are also like a companion in space. They invite you to notice, to see, to enjoy, to wonder.
Materiality is the physical presence of form. The opposite of it is “immateriality”, which is in the space of feelings, spirit, and sensing. Materiality and embodiment is the joining together of the physical body, the human form, and the physical form of the architecture, and nature. It is in materiality where these “connections” happen, where the “vibrations” of these encounters make sense, where the qualities of the sensorial, emotional, and spiritual fuse, or encounter.
Materiality: Form, density, sequencing, vibration, temperature, joy, warmth, sensations, container, content, culture, rhythm.
Read more about Claudia Madrazo here.
Read more from this publication
Case A | A handbag and the making of a boundary
Case B | A deck of cards and a vocabulary for social choices
Case C | A collection of home things and the gauging of limits
Case D | A balcony and a way of caring
Case E | A city playground and the connection of family and everyday life
Case F | A hacienda as an “instrument” to notice and wonder
