{"id":435,"date":"2023-11-13T17:45:24","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T17:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinelephant.org\/InhabitingSpaces\/?page_id=435"},"modified":"2023-11-13T17:48:55","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T17:48:55","slug":"paola-bascon","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/latinelephant.org\/InhabitingSpaces\/paola-bascon\/","title":{"rendered":"PAOLA BASC\u00d3N"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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PAOLA BASC\u00d3N<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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ESPA\u00d1OL<\/span><\/h5>

Paola Basc\u00f3n es una artista multidisciplinaria que trabaja entre La Paz y Berl\u00edn. Su trabajo puede describirse como investigaci\u00f3n art\u00edstica y performativa en torno a las pr\u00e1cticas rituales, la narraci\u00f3n y la historia colonial. Invitada a participar en el programa p\u00fablico de Latin Elephant, <\/span>Derecho a Habitar<\/span><\/i>, Basc\u00f3n ha desarrollado <\/span>Lithic Encounters<\/span><\/i>, un taller en la South London Gallery, donde dirigi\u00f3 un viaje audio-guiado en spanglish, invitando a los asistentes a involucrarse con sus propios cuerpos en una exploraci\u00f3n sensorial del Jard\u00edn Orozco. Mientras escuchaban las historias, los participantes abordaron la relaci\u00f3n entre las piedras, los recuerdos y las huellas de los territorios borrados que habitamos. En conversaci\u00f3n con ella, Paola nos cuenta m\u00e1s sobre esta experiencia y nos introduce su pr\u00e1ctica art\u00edstica.<\/span><\/p>

Hola Paola, gracias por tu tiempo para esta entrevista.<\/b><\/p>

\u00bfNos puedes relatar de qu\u00e9 se trat\u00f3 tu workshop y c\u00f3mo se enmarca en tu pr\u00e1ctica art\u00edstica?<\/b><\/p>

El workshop consisti\u00f3 en una audiogu\u00eda que re\u00fane una serie de historias sobre piedras y entidades l\u00edticas. <\/span>Lithic Encounters<\/span><\/i> est\u00e1 concebida como una experiencia sonora y sensorial, que entrelaza historias con ejercicios som\u00e1ticos. Las historias son narradas en primera persona, sugiriendo ser las mismas entidades l\u00edticas quienes toman la palabra. Ellas cuentan, por ejemplo, c\u00f3mo formaciones geol\u00f3gicas crearon nuestro planeta y la relaci\u00f3n con la composici\u00f3n mineral del cuerpo humano. Tambi\u00e9n son protagonistas piedras rituales que invocan la lluvia y entidades mayores como el <\/span>Cerro Rico <\/span><\/i>de Potos\u00ed, cuya extracci\u00f3n mineral surge como fruto de un sistema colonial.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

L@s participantes recibieron un pa\u00f1uelo con texturas de piedras para envolver una parte del cuerpo y una peque\u00f1a piedra como objetos de acompa\u00f1amiento durante la audiogu\u00eda. Esta peque\u00f1a piedra se convierte en una especie de miniatura, un objeto de mediaci\u00f3n con tiempos y espacios lejanos, pero tambi\u00e9n de reconexi\u00f3n con la memoria y vivencias personales de cada participante. Historias y ejercicios som\u00e1ticos crean constantemente un puente entre entidades l\u00edticas y el propio cuerpo, tratando de reactivar una relaci\u00f3n de afectos con las piedras.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

En mi trabajo art\u00edstico, sea video, performance o formatos participativos como workshops y audiogu\u00edas, me interesa indagar las fronteras entre el cuerpo humano y aquello que llamamos naturaleza. Explorar la memoria y la capacidad de crear v\u00ednculos afectivos a trav\u00e9s de la interacci\u00f3n con objetos tangibles (o et\u00e9reos), que invoquen una gestualidad y activaci\u00f3n del cuerpo. <\/span><\/p>

\u00bfTienes en mente alg\u00fan impacto en particular que te gustar\u00eda generar en tu audiencia?\u00a0 \u00bfQu\u00e9 sucedi\u00f3 particularmente con los participantes del workshop?<\/b><\/p>

Mi pr\u00e1ctica art\u00edstica suele estar acompa\u00f1ada por un trabajo previo de investigaci\u00f3n, donde se realizan lecturas, entrevistas y exploraci\u00f3n de materiales que alimentan el proceso de creaci\u00f3n. Sin embargo, me es importante pensar c\u00f3mo transmitir esta ‘informaci\u00f3n recolectada’ y c\u00f3mo hacerla accesible, hoy en tiempos donde el flujo de informaci\u00f3n es tan acelerado, que a veces nos paraliza e incluso entumece. Me interesa crear un espacio que posibilite al p\u00fablico salir de la posici\u00f3n de mer@s espectador@s o recipientes pasiv@s de informaci\u00f3n. Trato entonces de explorar la posibilidad de que se active una reflexi\u00f3n m\u00e1s profunda o emocional, por as\u00ed decirlo. Creo observar que esta activaci\u00f3n suele estar condicionada a una experiencia del cuerpo. Nuestro cuerpo puede concebirse tambi\u00e9n como una especie de archivo de la memoria personal y colectiva.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

En South London Gallery, despu\u00e9s de la sesi\u00f3n de la audiogu\u00eda, l@s participantes se reunieron para intercambiar sus vivencias o recuerdos. Para m\u00ed fue una experiencia muy gratificante poder escuchar a l@s participantes compartir una serie de nuevas historias y narraciones que generaron un espacio de intercambio colectivo y terminaron por completar este trabajo. Surgieron historias sobre conocimientos particulares sobre otras entidades l\u00edticas, memorias de infancia, memorias de otros territorios y paisajes, e incluso reflexiones emotivas sobre el sistema de explotaci\u00f3n de nuestro planeta y sus devastadoras consecuencias en la crisis clim\u00e1tica.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u00bfQu\u00e9 lugar ocupa en tu pr\u00e1ctica art\u00edstica tu identidad Latina? \u00bfC\u00f3mo se expresa el territorio del que sos originari@ en tu trabajo? Y en relaci\u00f3n a esto, por qu\u00e9 decidiste trabajar con piedras? \u00bfQu\u00e9 relaci\u00f3n encuentras entre las piedras, los recuerdos y las huellas que quedan en territorios habitados?<\/b><\/p>

Crec\u00ed en La Paz, una ciudad donde las monta\u00f1as son constantes protagonistas del paisaje urbano. En los Andes existe una relaci\u00f3n muy fuerte con las monta\u00f1as y piedras. Muchos mitos narran c\u00f3mo deidades l\u00edticas originalmente ten\u00edan una forma humana antes de convertirse en piedra o monta\u00f1a. La transici\u00f3n entre un estado y el otro parece ser bastante permeable. Se podr\u00eda decir que las historias de monta\u00f1as y piedras son ‘historias humanas’. Sin embargo, cabe tambi\u00e9n decir que hoy el crecimiento y la expansi\u00f3n de la ciudad misma ha significado un proceso de loteamiento de los cerros que rodean la ciudad. Estos son aplanados y convertidos en terrenos para la construcci\u00f3n de edificaciones y viviendas, transformando radicalmente el paisaje. Al parecer no hay una regulaci\u00f3n y planificaci\u00f3n urbana por parte de las autoridades municipales. Se carece de una estrategia que tenga en mente abastecer la demanda de vivienda y al mismo tiempo, tratar de minimizar el impacto ambiental y destrucci\u00f3n del h\u00e1bitat de fauna y flora que habita en los cerros.<\/span><\/p>

Sin embargo, mi inter\u00e9s por las piedras lo retomo de mi infancia en la cual, como muchas personas, sol\u00eda tener el h\u00e1bito de recolectar piedras. De alguna manera recuerdo esta relaci\u00f3n de afectos, de aferrarme a una piedra, sea por alguna caracter\u00edstica especial en su apariencia y textura, o por sentir incluso que la piedra me hab\u00eda escogido a m\u00ed. Muchas de estas piedras recolectadas en la infancia ya no las tengo conmigo. Pero tengo una especie de nueva recolecci\u00f3n de piedras de diferentes lugares, que resguardo en un lugar especial.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Creo que el h\u00e1bito de recolectar piedras sea tal vez una especie de instinto que nos remite al origen de nuestra especie. Para muchas personas, el recoger una piedra es tambi\u00e9n una forma de recolectar el fragmento f\u00edsico de un lugar, de un territorio.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u00bfPor qu\u00e9 elegiste hacer el workshop en spanglish y c\u00f3mo result\u00f3 eso?<\/b><\/p>

En general me interesa la imposibilidad de traducir un idioma, desde un punto de vista afectivo. Yo crec\u00ed hablando dos lenguas ‘maternas’, el portugu\u00e9s y espa\u00f1ol. Si bien son parecidas, hay palabras y expresiones que no encuentran un par en el otro idioma. En el caso de <\/span>Lithic Encounters,<\/span><\/i> me interesaba crear un peque\u00f1o v\u00ednculo de complicidad con participantes Latinoamerican@s que tengan el espa\u00f1ol como lengua materna (o aquell@s que entienden ambos idiomas). Si bien la audiogu\u00eda estaba destinada a una audiencia que hable o entienda ingl\u00e9s, las partes en espa\u00f1ol para algun@s participantes quedaron como fragmentos ininteligibles. Tambi\u00e9n me interesaba experimentar c\u00f3mo el lenguaje en general puede ser asimilado como un elemento sonoro.<\/span><\/p>

T<\/span>uvo alg\u00fan valor en particular haber llevado a cabo el workshop en el Jard\u00edn Orozco?<\/b><\/p>

El Jard\u00edn Orozco est\u00e1 conformado por ladrillos de piedra colocados en una serie de formas circulares que se entrelazan, creando un dise\u00f1o tridimensional de geometr\u00edas en diferentes niveles del suelo. El dise\u00f1o del jard\u00edn, puede tambi\u00e9n ser visto como una especie de miniatura de una superficie topogr\u00e1fica mayor. Las piedras son protagonistas, su presencia f\u00edsica y visual ayudaron naturalmente a conectar con la audiogu\u00eda de manera m\u00e1s concreta y material. L@s participantes escuchan a las piedras hablar al mismo tiempo que tienen un contacto f\u00edsico con ellas. Este jard\u00edn fue un lugar muy afortunado para las historias de <\/span>Lithic Encounters<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>

\u00bfC\u00f3mo fue tu experiencia trabajando con Latin Elephant? \u00bfTe quedas con alguna imagen en especial en relaci\u00f3n a las comunidades latinas habitando en Londres<\/b>?<\/span><\/p>

Durante mi corta estad\u00eda en Londres tuve la oportunidad de visitar Elephant and Castle, pasear por Burgess Park y sentir la presencia de la comunidad latina en la ciudad. Mi taller en South London Gallery cont\u00f3 con la presencia de diferentes participantes Latinoamerican@s, lo que posibilit\u00f3 justamente crear un intercambio de historias desde diferentes territorios y sensibilidades. Sin embargo, me cabe tambi\u00e9n volver a constatar c\u00f3mo espacios art\u00edsticos muchas veces no suelen ser accedidos por la mayor\u00eda de las comunidades migrantes. Creo que tanto a instituciones como artistas, nos cabe tratar de buscar nuevas estrategias de mediaci\u00f3n, para generar espacios de intercambio m\u00e1s diversos y romper ciertas barreras que separan a las instituciones y nuestras propias pr\u00e1cticas art\u00edsticas de un acceso m\u00e1s democr\u00e1tico a otras audiencias. Tal vez en otra ocasi\u00f3n, me gustar\u00eda tratar de desarrollar un taller o pr\u00e1ctica integrando la comida, por ejemplo, que vincule de manera m\u00e1s directa a las comunidades que habitan el barrio de una instituci\u00f3n cultural. Creo que valdr\u00eda la pena experimentar con nuevas estrategias de mediaci\u00f3n y acercamiento.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

ENGLISH<\/span><\/h5>

Paola Basc\u00f3n is a multidisciplinary artist working between La Paz and Berlin. Her work can be described as an artistic and performative research around ritual practices, storytelling and colonial history. Invited for Latin Elephant\u2019s public programme, <\/span>Right to inhabit<\/span><\/i>, the artist has developed <\/span>Lithic Encounters<\/span><\/i>, a workshop at the South London Gallery, where she led an audio-guided journey in Spanglish, inviting attendees to engage with their own bodies in a sensorial exploration of the Orozco Garden. While listening to the stories, attendees dived into the relationship between stones, memories and the traces of erased territories we inhabit. In conversation with her, Paola tells us more about this experience and introduces us to her practice.<\/span><\/p>

Hello Paola, thank you for your time today for this interview.<\/b><\/p>

Could you tell us what your workshop was about and how it fits into your artistic practice?<\/b><\/p>

The workshop consisted of an audio guide that brought together a series of stories about stones and lithic entities. <\/span>Lithic Encounters<\/span><\/i> is conceived as a sound and sensory experience that intertwines stories with somatic exercises. The stories are narrated in the first person, suggesting that the same lithic entities are the ones speaking. They tell, for example, how geological formations created our planet and the relationship with the mineral composition of the human body. Ritual stones that invoke rain and larger entities such as the Cerro Rico de Potos\u00ed, whose mineral extraction arises as a result of a colonial system, are also protagonists.<\/span><\/p>

The participants received as accompanying objects for the audio guide a handkerchief with stone textures to wrap a part of their body and a small stone. This small stone became a kind of miniature, an object of mediation with distant times and spaces, but also of reconnection with the memory and personal experiences of each participant. Stories and somatic exercises constantly create a bridge between lithic entities and the body itself, trying to reactivate a relationship of affection with the stones.<\/span><\/p>

In my artistic work, involving either video, performance or participatory formats such as workshops and audio guides, I am interested in investigating the borders between the human body and what we call nature. I explore memory and the ability to create affective bonds through the interaction with tangible (or ethereal) objects, which invoke gestures and activations of the body.<\/span><\/p>

Do you have in mind any particular impact that you would like to generate in your audience? What happened particularly with the participants of the workshop?<\/b><\/p>

My artistic practice is usually accompanied by a previous research work, where readings, interviews and exploration of materials that feed the creative process are carried out. However, it is important for me to think about how to transmit this ‘collected information’ and how to make it accessible, even more today, in times where the flow of information is so fast that it sometimes paralyses us and even numbs us. I am interested in creating a space that enables the public to leave the position of mere spectators or passive recipients of information. I try to explore the possibility of a deeper or emotional reflection being activated, so to speak. I seem to observe that this activation is usually conditioned to an experience of the body. Our body can also be conceived as a kind of archive of personal and collective memory.<\/span><\/p>

At the South London Gallery, after the audio guide session, the participants gathered to exchange their experiences or memories. For me it was a very gratifying experience to be able to listen to the participants sharimg a series of new stories and narratives that generated a space for collective exchange and ended up completing this work. Stories arose in relation to other lithic entities, childhood memories, memories of other territories and landscapes, and even emotional reflections on the system of exploitation of our planet and its devastating consequences in the climate crisis.<\/span><\/p>

What place does your Latin identity occupy in your artistic practice? How is your territory of origin expressed in your work? And in relation to this, why did you decide to work with stones? What relationship do you find between the stones, the memories and the traces that remain in inhabited territories?<\/b><\/p>

I grew up in La Paz, a city where mountains are constant protagonists of the urban landscape. In the Andes there is a very strong relationship with the mountains and stones. Many myths narrate how lithic deities originally had a human form before turning into stone or a mountain. The transition between one state and the other seems to be quite permeable. It could be said that the stories of mountains and stones are ‘human stories’. However, it should also be said that today, the growth and expansion of the city itself has implied a process of subdivision of the hills that surround the city. These are flattened and converted into land for the construction of buildings and homes, radically transforming the landscape. Apparently, there is no regulation or urban planning by the municipal authorities. There is a lack of a strategy in terms of the housing demand and also in terms of minimising the environmental impact and destruction of the habitat of the fauna and flora that inhabit the mountains.<\/span><\/p>

However, my interest in stones comes from my childhood in which, like many people, I used to have the habit of collecting stones. Somehow, I remember this relationship of affections, of clinging to a stone, either because of some special feature in its appearance and texture, or even because I felt that the stone had chosen me. I no longer have with me many of these stones collected in childhood, but I have a kind of new collection of stones from different places, which I keep in a special place.<\/span><\/p>

I think that the habit of collecting stones is perhaps a kind of instinct that refers us to the origin of our species. For many people, collecting a stone is also a way of collecting the physical fragment of a place, of a territory.<\/span><\/p>

Why did you choose to do the workshop in Spanglish and how did that turn out?<\/b><\/p>

In general, I am interested in the impossibility of translating a language, from an emotional point of view. I grew up speaking two ‘mother’ languages, Portuguese and Spanish. Although they are similar, there are words and expressions that do not find a pair in the other language. In the case of <\/span>Lithic Encounters<\/span><\/i>, I was interested in creating a small bond of complicity with Latin American participants who have Spanish as their mother tongue (or those who understand both languages). Although the audio guide was intended for an audience that speaks or understands English, the Spanish parts were for some participants left as unintelligible fragments. I was also interested in experimenting with how language in general can be assimilated as a sound element.<\/span><\/p>

Did carrying out the workshop in the Orozco Garden had any particular value?<\/b><\/p>

The Orozco Garden is made up of stone bricks placed in a series of interlocking circular shapes, creating a three-dimensional design of geometries at different ground levels. The garden\u2019s design can also be seen as a kind of miniature of a larger topographical surface. The stones are protagonists, their physical and visual presence naturally helped to connect with the audio guide in a more concrete and material way. The participants listen to the stones speak at the same time as they have physical contact with them. This garden was a very lucky place for the <\/span>Lithic Encounters<\/span><\/i> stories.<\/span><\/p>

How was your experience working with Latin Elephant? Do you keep any special image in relation to the Latin communities living in London?<\/b><\/p>

During my short stay in London I had the opportunity to visit Elephant and Castle, walk through Burgess Park and feel the presence of the Latin community in the city. In my workshop at the South London Gallery, the presence of different Latin American participants made it possible to create an exchange of stories from different territories and sensitivities. However, it is also relevant for me to re-confirm how artistic spaces are often not accessed by the majority of migrant communities. I believe that both institutions and artists must try to find new mediation strategies, to generate more diverse exchange spaces and break down certain barriers that separate institutions and our own artistic practices from more democratic access to other audiences. Perhaps, on another occasion, I would like to try to develop a workshop or practice integrating food, for example, that links more directly to the communities that inhabit the neighbourhood of a cultural institution. I think it would be worth experimenting with new mediations and rapprochement strategies.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PAOLA BASC\u00d3N ESPA\u00d1OL Paola Basc\u00f3n es una artista multidisciplinaria que trabaja entre La Paz y Berl\u00edn. Su trabajo puede describirse como investigaci\u00f3n art\u00edstica y performativa en torno a las pr\u00e1cticas rituales, la narraci\u00f3n y la historia colonial. Invitada a participar en el programa p\u00fablico de Latin Elephant, Derecho a Habitar, Basc\u00f3n ha desarrollado Lithic Encounters, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-435","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinelephant.org\/InhabitingSpaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinelephant.org\/InhabitingSpaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinelephant.org\/InhabitingSpaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinelephant.org\/InhabitingSpaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinelephant.org\/InhabitingSpaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/latinelephant.org\/InhabitingSpaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":442,"href":"https:\/\/latinelephant.org\/InhabitingSpaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/435\/revisions\/442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinelephant.org\/InhabitingSpaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}