Andrés Aizicovich: Contact

Andrés Aizicovich is both an artist and an inventor. A romantic idealist, he creates technologies whose purpose is to change the physical and poetic states of the world. His objects and installations embody a utopian vision that seeks to reinvent the dynamics of communication and find new ways for people to come together.

His projects draw on a variety of conceptual worlds, from astronomy and quantum physics to mysticism and science fiction. He is fascinated by ideas that push the limits of the imagination in search of new forms of interaction. Incorporating fantasy and touches of surrealism, his artworks generally function in simple, mechanical ways and can often be touched and manipulated by viewers.

The installation presented here, which was produced especially for this exhibition, combines several distinct forms of contact: with extra-terrestrial life, one’s ancestors and even undiscovered dimensions that potentially offer new, more harmonious ways of building a community. As if it were a combination of a glass organ and satellite antenna, it is activated by pressing on glass keys to produce vibrations that are amplified by steel bells. The inspiration for the piece came from Cristal Baschet, a very unusual instrument created in 1952 by François and Bernard Baschet that was developed as an educational tool to challenge the monopoly of the ear in academic musical teaching. Aizicovich’s artwork initiates the ritual of communication through touch: as in the digital era, spiritualism and magic, the act of touching a surface is one of connection.

The artist is suspicious of the extreme hyper-connectivity of modern life and concerned by the deterioration of the social fabric and so presents a technology that restores the power of perception and encourages collaborative encounters between visitors. This artwork is simultaneously a means of meditation, an instrument and also a channel for connection with space and other dimensions. Aizicovich envisions the sound of messages and thoughts travelling through the cosmos in search of contact, a receptive ear or an answer; a link with which to build a chain of communication. He thus turns the museum gallery into a huge antenna: a transmitter and receiver that cuts through the static and indifference that limit everyday contact with others to encourage new forms of expression and encounter.

Andrés Aizicovich (Buenos Aires, 1985) has a degree in Visual Arts from the UNA (National University of the Arts). He attended art clinics run by Fabián Burgos, Eduardo Navarro and Carlos Huffmann and Mónica Girón, and in 2012, he took part in the Artists’ Programme at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. In 2017, he won the Braque Award (UNTREF; Instituto Francés). He took part in residencies at the Cité des Arts (Paris, 2017), ARTOMI (New York, 2019) and Parc Saint Léger (Pougues-les-eaux, 2019), among others. Since 2013, he has edited the monthly art and criticism magazine El Flasherito together with Leopoldo Estol, Piro Jaramillo and Liv Schulman.