This work is the result of an investigation conducted by Carlos Amorales in the collection of Pre-Columbian art that is held at the Amparo Museum. Contrary to the official and institutional history that exists about these objects, the artist made replicas of some pieces in the collection to immerse them in paint and pose a personal vision of their meaning, based on an animated story that takes place in an artificial landscape of picto-sculptural qualities. The experimental music in the video, composed by Julian Lede, generates a disturbing atmosphere that sets the tone for the abstruse and at times abject story of La hora nacional (The National Hour).
In the video, the Pre-Columbian pieces, generally safeguarded and exhibited inside a glass case due to their heritage and historical value, come to life to star in a story full of colors alien to their original context. With this artistic and personal interpretive turn, Amorales questions the knowledge and typologies dictated by museums and official institutions, opening up the possibility of generating other narratives.
The title of the piece ironically alludes to the program of the same name that the Mexican government broadcasts on Sunday nights on all radio stations throughout the country. On the other hand, it refers to the precise moment in which it was produced; specifically, to the celebrations held for the centennial of the Revolution and the bicentennial of the Independence of Mexico in 2010. In this context, Amorales produced an animation where the figurines playfully question the official discourse and national commemorations.
The fact that this animation closes with a mask is not by accident. Since the 1990s, Amorales has worked with this element as a strategy to subvert the idea of identity and the presumed uniqueness of an artist's work. In this case, the mask in the video again puts the idea of identity in check, but now from a national perspective.
This piece was made expressly for the solo exhibition of Carlos Amorales, Vivir por fuera de la casa de uno (Living Outside of One's House), presented at the Amparo Museum in 2010.
http://losapuntesdelacazadora.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-to-fear-present-carlos-amorales.html
http://estudioamorales.com/wp-content/s/2015/Carlos-Amorales-2014-updated-LR.pdf
This work is the result of an investigation conducted by Carlos Amorales in the collection of Pre-Columbian art that is held at the Amparo Museum. Contrary to the official and institutional history that exists about these objects, the artist made replicas of some pieces in the collection to immerse them in paint and pose a personal vision of their meaning, based on an animated story that takes place in an artificial landscape of picto-sculptural qualities. The experimental music in the video, composed by Julian Lede, generates a disturbing atmosphere that sets the tone for the abstruse and at times abject story of La hora nacional (The National Hour).
