.png)
Instrumentos de cuerda
String instruments
Art
Contemporary
Location
Art space Plaza Patria
Guadalajara Jalisco
Year
2021
Artist
Francisco Morales
A nut is a mechanical part with a central hole, which has a thread used to attach a screw, either fixed or sliding. The nut is used to fasten and fix the joints of removable elements. Sometimes a washer can be added to make the joint close better and remain fixed.
The inventor of the nut and the screw is said to be the Greek Archytas (430-360 B.C.) who is also credited with the invention of the pulley. Archimedes (287 - 212 B.C.) perfected the screw and even used it to lift water. It was also Archimedes who invented the worm screw.
The nut, as an object, is an aesthetic artifact of harmonious proportions and with a long history that gives it a very special value. In this project, the title “Stringed Instruments” brings an air of musicality, alluding to the double meaning of the word. On the one hand, the string of the screw and, on the other, the string of a musical instrument. The purpose is to think of the string in the context of something more subtle, more poetic, more spiritual.
Going back to the idea of the nut, it is interesting to note that the nut exerts pressure on the screw in a clockwise direction, which in turn, works by means of the string. The reference to the clock leads us to the notion of something more precise, more related to time.
In terms of perception and image, the installation generates an atmosphere that suggests a standstill in time. The large-format nuts complement the drama of the canvases and reinforce a sense of pause, of frozen moments.
The canvases functioned as witnesses to the effect of weathering for months. In the process of oxidation of the metal, the canvases became permanently tattooed.
Some of the canvases are mounted on stretcher bars, which gives them a sense of permanence and static presence. The space is associated with silence. The suspended canvases have a volatile, fragile, and ephemeral character, and emphasize the traces of the folds. These are displayed all over the surface of the canvases, as well as the marks of oxidation, which together create the essential: THE AESTHETICS OF DETERIORATION.
The exhibition is complemented by two benches that replicate rails on a larger scale. These are preceded by steps (concrete shoes, part of an installation by artist Claudia Rodriguez) that metaphorically end in them. The sectioned rails can be interpreted as unfinished paths, which, together with the nuts, somehow evoke an atmosphere of an uninhabited place.
Just as we use the nuts and bolts to solve technical problems, it would be vital to find formulas that could help us to readjust, to level, to resignify our ways of life. This idea takes on special relevance after experiencing the phenomena that afflict us today and that force us to modify our behaviours, from work processes to ways of interacting. Although nuts may not serve as a remedy for any pandemic, they might serve as a reminder to GIVE ANOTHER TURN OF THE NUT to the reasons for our existence.
