We will live in our hearts. That means that we will live according to our organs, our senses and we will be learning to listen to their needs. They surely need love, but also the sense of life happening. Can you describe life happening? — ”yes. When I was small, some summers were really hot and air conditioning was not an option. In fact, we hadn’t ever heard of such a thing. We all lived in the acceptance of the climate and in what it did to our routines. The asphalt of the big city slept during the day, but was awaken at night. It was impossible to sleep, so we went out to the street and bought a portable table to play cards. Neighbors reunited in summer pyjamas, chatting and playing cards. Ice cream shops remained open and children could enjoy their favorite tastes. The conversation lasted till the first sign of cooler air appeared around 4 a.m. Meeting neighbours at night created strong bonds.“ Living in our hearts is just living close enough to others, so that the feeling of loneliness vanishes… forever.
Photo: Gina Folly.
Chus Martínez is a curator, art historian, and writer. She is currently the head of the Institute Art Gender Nature at the FHNW Academy of Arts and Design in Basel. From 2021 she is the artistic director of Ocean Space in Venice, a space initiated by TBA21–Academy. She previously worked as the chief curator at El Museo Del Barrio in New York and as the head of department for DOCUMENTA(13). Other past positions include the chief curator at MACBA in Barcelona (2008–2011), the director of the Frankfurter Kunstverein (2005–2008) and the artistic director of Sala Rekalde, Bilbao (2002–2005). She curated the National Pavilion of Catalonia at the 56th Biennale di Venezia (2015) as well as the National Pavilion of Cyprus in 2005. She also worked on the Istanbul Biennial (2015), Carnegie International (2010) and the Bienal de São Paulo (2010).
Where will we live tomorrow? – This question is actually the title of a book with the same name – Où vivrons-nous demain? – from the 1960s by the French architecture critic Michel Ragon. He is behind the theory of prospective architecture, and in this book he explores the ideas of what the architecture of the future should be, what form our cities should take in the conditions of urban overpopulation and changing work/leisure ratios, and so on… even with the constant industrialization and the consequent deterioration of our environment.
Brief Encounter* is a short and quick format that aims to reveal relationships between individuals, different professions, etc. By avoiding a more complex interview, it aims to recall the immediacy, the lightness of a single, acute, direct but essential question. A brief encounter of two people, a chance to ask someone about something related to their professional interest at a given time, publicly. A meeting framed by the extent of a single question and the virtual space of MAG D A.
* Brief Encounter comes from the 40´s movie by David Lean, about a chance meeting of two random people at a railway station.
