projects/projekte > Intercambio Buenavista
Project Information
Artist
René Francisco, Cuba
Curators
Juan Carlos Betancourt (Cuba)
Dr. Serafine Lindemann (artcircolo)
Project description
Realisation
Funding
Sponsoring details
Pictures
Project information as pdf
Intercambio Buena Vista is part of overtures, a transdisciplinary project series by artcircolo.
All their lives Emilio and Jose A. Trevilla have lived in this phantasmagorical dwelling, located at 29A21 62th Street in the Buena Vista neighborhood. The shack, built in 1920, has been battered over the years by wind, weather and poverty and thus poses a number of risks to its occupants. Repeated mishaps and inclement weather have caused it to lean in such a paradoxical way that it almost seems to have been planned this ay by an architect.
The floor plan of the house is a single room without divisions. It has no bathroom or kitchen. Inside the room is a bunkbed, a couple of chairs, a little closet, all kinds of recycled objects and a small device, a sort of oven, for cooking as well as for heating and polishing pots covered in soot (this is how the brothers earn their living). The mix of smoke and sunlight, entering through chinks in the wall, creates a theatrical and alarming atmosphere.
In previous works like agua benita the Cuban artist René Francisco satisfied the needs of his ‘clients’ by ennobling their domestic environment and making their dreams come true. He acted as a neutral mediator between their needs and the possibility of fulfilling them.
>> agua benita
>> agua benita at the Habana Art Biennial 2009
René Francisco’s Intercambio Buena Vista architectural concept now for the first time places special emphasis on his artistic requirements, while still respecting his occupants’ need for privacy.
