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| Todo
tu tiempo es libre (All Your Time is Free) |
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| Välparaíso
In(TER)venciones |
| Curators
José Roca, Jorge Diez and Paulina Varas |
| 2010 |
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press
(in Spanish): 1
2
3
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| Introduction
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| Tamara
Stuby presents two complementary projects dealing with public
space and time. The first involves making a small floating
segment of public square, set out in the middle of the bay.
Impacted by descriptions of the almost evolutionary process
through which the city had gradually gained ground over the
sea, it occurred to her to suggest a case where the sea had
gained a small bit of land. Including a piece of public space
also implied considering the bay as an extension of the city's
urban weave: a place of work, transit and private property,
where public spaces exist as an exception. This strong contrast
with the imagery usually associated with the sea arises from
the artist's reflection on the reality of a port that has
been privatized. The piece itself is elaborated using the
classic icons of a public square: there are two park benches,
a tree, a trash bin and a lamp post, all installed on a floating
platform. A phrase is spray-painted on each bench: "Todo tu
tiempo es libre" (All your time is free), which oscillates
ambiguously between a subversive expression in the face of
a world of capitalism and a message instructing the public
regarding the use of public spaces. The concept of public
space is thus unfolded to include the notion of time, a confrontation
of one's (private) free time versus the time that in a way
pertains to one's participation in the social (public) sphere. |
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| The second
project (not completed due to the earthquake) was based on
another phrase, "Si el tiempo no fuera dinero, no podrías
desperdiciarlo" (If time weren't money, you wouldn't be able
to waste it"), located this time in Valparaíso's old Stock
Exchange building. The institution that best represents the
trafficking of stocks (valores in Spanish, literally values)
is most widely used today by people who spend free time there
(sitting to have lunch or read the newspaper). Huge chalkboards
that used to register the dynamic activity of buying and selling
still cover the walls, now displaced to mere background decoration,
replaced by monitors that fulfill their previous function.
Stuby proposed to activate the old chalkboards with her phrase,
writing it repeatedly in chalk until completely filling all
of them, like some sort of corrective behavior as punishment,
memorization strategy or self-help tactic. After the action
of writing has finished, the reiterated phrase would remain
as a mute commentary on the value of time and freedom. |
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