2007:Interventions

Discoteca Flaming Star

Discoteca Flaming Star

Fernando (We were young. Full of life. None of us prepared to die)

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT - - - MOTIVATIONS- - - INTENTIONS

“Fernando (We were young. Full of life. None of us prepared to die)”. It is a sculpture –a metallic hut- which the public does not have access to; the passer-by hears music and a voice that comes from inside the hut. The sculpture articulates a presence associated with forms of informal commerce and architecture. The audio element gives way to the mysterious and enormous music box nature of the hut. The audio element was developed with the collaboration of the Chilean composer, Álvaro Peña.

-mixing different spatial categories: inside-outside, private-public-artistic, visible, inaccessible, seemingly functional but not in operation. 

---generating a space that promises nothing and seeks to offer nothing; thus, in this manner, we hope to encourage a reflection on the political nature of what is public, its vulnerable nature and the confrontational substance of the public space.

- audio element – voice + music

--- literality issues, (i)rationality, passion, dialogue, promenade, public framework and collective expression through cultural products. Integrating reflections on the diversity of the relationships of the different cultural and ideological projects of/in the city.

BASES OF REFLECTION AND INSPIRATION FOR DEVELOPING THIS PROJECT:

-THE HUTS OF THE NEW AND SECOND-HAND BOOK FAIR

Since 1925, 30 bookshop-huts have been placed in the Cuesta de Moyano. While small, therefore of a picturesque nature- the outdoor structures are associated with forms of informal economy which, except in their illegal street vendor version, are outside the areas demarcated by the project Madrid Abierto.

Currently, the huts are temporarily situated in Paseo del Prado until they are relocated to the remodelled Cuesta de Moyano – which will become pedestrian- in 2007. We find the issues inherent in this change especially interesting: To what extent and how does culture, as an event, affect urban planning and real estate interests? Will the new ‘Cuesta’ pose a change to the content of the huts?

-FERNANDO’S ‘PACHANGA’ ROWDY ESTABLISHMENT IN GUADALIX DE LA SIERRA (MADRID) AND THE CHIC STAND IN POWERS STREET (BROOKLYN – NY):

As places built for combating loneliness, for establishing themselves as gathering and conversation points based on commercial interchange, both have sought (Fernando died and his rowdy establishment was torn down in 2005) and seek methods of providing offers that go beyond the purely commercial and ignore the aesthetic imperatives established by large companies, generating their own presentation and advertising methods for their ‘products’.

-THE VALPARAISO TRAIN (CHILE):

Popular public transport of the city of Valparaíso disappeared as a result of its transformation into a subway train.

-THE VERSES, LYRICS, STORIES, ESSAYS AND POPULAR SONGS OF:

ÁLVARO (more information below), Dorothy Parker, W.G. Sebald, Virginia Woolf, Albert Camus, Quentin Crisp, Karl Valentin, Jack Smith, Pasollini, The process of Joan of Arc, Avery F. Gordon, Estrella de Diego, Mary Shelley, Yvonne Rainer, Jorge Semprún, Guy Debord, Ingeborg Bachmann, Ostermayer/Phettberg, the script of C. Th. Dreyer for ‘Joan of Arc’.

DISCOTECA FLAMING STAR

Since 1998 the Discoteca Flaming Star has been staging performances-collaborations with other artists in different artistic contexts. In the last few years, the production of audiovisual projects associated with the performative experience has been on the increase. The group has produced banners or backdrops, carpets, collages, audio projects and video works.

The project proposed here seeks to give a sculptural-physical dimension of a public nature to the search for the group. A search carried out in the fields of spontaneous song expression, understood as an individual response to/in specific historical moments and, through it, investigating methods of organic acting and interpreting in contrast with the global imperatives of the entertainment industry. www.discotecaflamingstar.co

ÁLVARO PEÑA

Chilean composer born in Valparaiso in 1943. Already in the decade of the sixties Álvaro Peña was a member of various popular music bands, namely LOS BUMERANGS and LOS CHALLENGERS, in Chile. In London, at the start of the seventies Álvaro formed the now the legendary THE 101'ERS, with Joe Strummer (THE CLASH).

It is worth mentioning that despite all the musical tendencies, from the sixties to now, Alvaro´s TRANSITORY MUSIC continues to remain as fresh and up to date as on the first day, mainly his piano style as well as the strong singularity of his voice. Alvaro currently lives in Germany and regularly tours Europe, Latin America and the USA. www.don-alvaro.net

Ubicación

Paseo de Recoletos, central boulevard.

Performance February 3, 22:00H 

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