‘El miedo es el mensaje’ (Message of fear) is an exhibition and research project which takes the form of a vinyl system covering the wall of La Nau cultural centre’s cloister. The exhibition was opened last Friday, July 13th, at 20:00.
Moreover, this project is also screening a cinema cycle titled ‘Exposición más allá del muro’ (Exhibition beyond the wall), which is allowing a dialogue among the exhibition curator, the artist and the public.
According to the curator Alba Braza, the goal of this exhibition is to show ‘how the medias show us the crisis and how this way to inform on it may influence our point of view.’ This is why the title refers to the famous axiom by Herbert Marshall McLuhan ‘The Medium is the Message’ and is changed into ‘Fear is the Message’ (El miedo es el mensaje).
The system ‘El miedo es el mensaje’ can be seen at La Nau cultural centre from 13 to 16 July and it gathers almost two hundred headlines. These headlines informed on key processes of different economic recessions of several countries during the last twenty years.
The research team in charge of the exhibition searched in the largest daily newspapers published during the last four economic recessions: Spain (1992-1993), Mexico (1994-1995), Argentina (2011) and 2008, and the current global crisis.
They have consulted in newspaper libraries, public and private archives and digital databases of the countries envolved. The chosen documentary collection are ABC, Levante EMV, El Mundo, El País, Público, El Temps and La Vanguardia for the Spanish crisis; Expansión, El Financiero, La Jornada, Proceso and Reforma for the Mexican crisis; and Ámbito Financiero, Clarín, El Cronista, El Día, Diario Popular, El Diario de la Región, Página/12 and La Prensa for the Argentinian crisis.
The conclusión, according to the curator, is that ‘there are no differences. The messages on the newspapers regarding the crisis of 1992 continue to be relevant these days, so there are no chronological changes in the way we communicate even though we are 20 years down the line.’ Instead a catalogue of the exhibition, a newspaper publications has been edited gathering the headlines of the different countries has been published to show that the message continues to be the same despite the passing of time. Moreover, this web has been created: http://elmiedoeselmensaje.juanjosemartin.com/
‘El miedo es el mensaje’ merges Juan José Martín Andrés’ trajectory, this exhibition’s artist, and two important trenes: McLuhan’s theory and the work by Rogelio López and Anoni Muntadas presented in 2009 at art.es, ARCO. That work showed different headlines of Spanish newspapers showing the word ‘crisis’.
‘An exhibition beyond the wall’
The cinema cycle will be oponed on July 16th by the documentary Memoria del saqueo (Argentina, France and Switzerland, 2004) directed by Pino Solanas. On July 17th, the film Efecto Tequila (Mexico, 2010) will be screened, and Margin Call (USA, 2011) by J.C. Chandor and Todos a la cárcel by Berlanga (Spain, 1993) will be also shown.
El miedo es el mensaje
From 13 to 16 July, September 2012
Cloister – Universitat de València’s La Nau.
Opening hours: from Monday to Saturday (9 – 21:00).
Sundays, 9-14:00.
August: from Monday to Sunday, 9 – 14:00.
FREE ENTRANCE
Last update: 16 de july de 2012 08:49.
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