Contemporary art and visual signals from daily life as a paradigm of global models of living and thinking

Abstract

Our proposal consists of presenting a personal art project and analysing its relationship with works by renowned contemporary artists that adopt a number of spontaneous visual signals present in daily settings as formal and conceptual references. Fleeting and transitory traces produced by people’s behaviours and interactions which can be representative of models of living and thinking in the global era. The proposed works (both the personal pieces and the references) formalise and reconfigure into the language of art a number of footprints and visual indications which do not owe their origin to the artistic terrain. Marks, remains and vestiges related to aspects of the complex consequences of economic and cultural internationalisation and the creep of new technologies and models of behaviour as a cornerstone of individual and collective identities. Our project comprises a series of works of various formats and techniques that build on our experience in relation to these daily signs and are inspired by artistic references of recognised standing and international legitimacy. The project began in 2009 with the series entitled “Alter Ludus” - From Teaching Experience to Artistic Experimentation, a reflection on the spontaneous visual manifestations of adolescents in the school environment which form a paradigm of behaviours and dynamics of the adult world. Other series were to follow, such as Live: Pictorial Traces of Information, where we took a critical look at the limits of electronic information through the importance of pictorial complexity, and Don't Touch!, a reflection on norms and conventions, inhibitions and taboos, through to the latest productions centring on trends in contemporary thought regarding science, technology and the controversial relationship between culture and history.

Keywords

• arte contemporáneo
• cotidianidad
• señales visuales
• identidad