Remediation_I, Remediation_III, Remediation_D are part of a homonymous series that explores the possible construction of a visual language from the intersection between the digital and the material. The project stems from an investigation that runs through part of the artistic production of Luis Hidalgo, which takes the classic techniques of drawing, painting or printing towards digitization by means of data that allow him to shape a pictorial image.
The production process of the pieces is key to their conceptualization: everything begins with a file of digital images that the artist accumulates on his cell phone or computer (details of unfinished paintings, screenshots, 3D modeling, cutouts, etc.). Once selected, according to their relationship with memory and physical and virtual bodies, they are manipulated by means of software that is necessarily free or with a free license (this is important for the artist because of the option they offer for common and shared use), to model the volumes, textures and surfaces that shape the digital composition. Subsequently, the result is sent to a website to bring to life the content, that is, to generate the printed image while respecting its digital qualities. Finally, this model is translated onto a 100% cotton fabric.
By working with this process, Hidalgo not only seeks to break the dichotomy between physical matter and digital matter (which is generally defined as immaterial), but also to demonstrate their close relationship. The name of the series and these pieces, 'Remediation', is a concept that alludes to this link. The term was coined by Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin in 1999 to point out that the forms generated by the so-called new media are the result of the development of technologies, techniques and practices of the media that precede them, and not a simple discovery without references.
In this context, the artist's exploration results in a piece closely associated with classical artistic production that brings to the table the modes of consumption and production of images, as well as the use of digital media. In short, unlike the apparent distancing from materials that has been associated with contemporary art, the reflection proposed by these pieces is entirely based on their material composition.
AC, January 2021.
—References
With information from the artist.
Remediation_I, Remediation_III, Remediation_D are part of a homonymous series that explores the possible construction of a visual language from the intersection between the digital and the material. The project stems from an investigation that runs through part of the artistic production of Luis Hidalgo, which takes the classic techniques of drawing, painting or printing towards digitization by means of data that allow him to shape a pictorial image.
