Empirescapes
© Juan Fabuel
year: 2018 - ongoing
technique: porcelain
sizes: 26,4 x 37,3 cm - 18,7 x 26,4 cm - variable dimensions
Inspired by questions concerning the relationship between landscape, construction of collective identity and power, I have carried out an artistic research in relation to the use, perception and symbolism of porcelain.
This traditional white ceramic material emanates an undeniable aura of exclusivity and magic. However, through a historical and archaeological perspective focused on the empire as a specific form of political organization, it also reveals itself as a blank canvas suitable for political and economic agendas. The "dark part of the landscape", as John Barrell defines it, takes us to the moral, political and often hidden dimensions of these representations and objects, offering us an ideological counterpoint to the characteristic transparency and whiteness of porcelain.
That historical duality of porcelain anchored in the use of everyday objects, its subtle function in colonization processes and the institutionalized use of landscape and image, lead me to design an intermedial project in which installation and image play a central role.
In order to explore issues related to loss and preservation in globalizing processes, I combined both mediums to represent endemic flora of former colonies, with the intention of generating affective pieces that make the dialogue between porcelain, landscape, sustainability and ideology visible.
Empirescapes suggests a multidisciplinary approach in which anthropology, art, archeology and craftsmanship are hybridized to relocate concepts such as landscape, materiality and symbol. Its purpose revolves around the notions of empire and colonialism, the reproduction of ceramic pieces characteristic of those historical periods and the use of landscape in relation to those elements, power and visual modes of representation.
Furthermore, the project visually addresses issues related to the reliability of the photographic medium, the appropriation of images and the creation of a collective imaginary based on the premeditated construction of identity and memory.
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