questioning and redefinitions for a contemporary notion of the project: new basque sculpture

We propose to carry out an audiovisual task in order to give an account of the generational conditions behind the phenomenon known as `New Basque Sculpture´. On this occasion we are referring to the group of artists that shared a studio on the Uribitarte dock in Bilbao in the early 80s: Txomin Badiola, Angel Bados, María Luisa Fernández and Juan Luis Moraza (of the Art Vigilance Committee) and Pello Irazu.

This project will look at the symbolic institutional strategies carried out at that time to legitimise the Spain of the Autonomous Regions and also at the art criticism of the period, but it will focus mainly on researching the questions and new definitions that brought these artists together and later drove them apart. These questions cannot be reduced to aspects of form in their art work; they seem to be based on the way they understood the connection between the (political-internal) knowledge of art and Life. Although this project had been expressed clearly in the modernist programme, the artists of the `New Basque Sculpture´ tried to re-formulate it within the new cultural context of postmodernism, and the way they re-defined the artist´s role led to the renovation of Basque sculpture.

Conversations and interviews with the artists will be used but, rather than attempting to build up a subjective discourse, a test project will be carried out to implement an open production method that istechnically linked to the research objective. We hope this will contribute to the questions and re-definitions that lead to an understanding of the word of `project´ in contemporary society.

Presentation of the audiovisual work Questionings and redefinitions for a contemporary notion of the project: new Basque sculpture on Thursday 20 December 2016 in Azkuna Zentroa, Alhóndiga (Bastida room, Floor 2) within Bideotik-2016.

Documentary, 60′ | Spanish.