https://adrianmelis.com adrian melis Fri, 20 Mar 2020 20:47:34 +0000 https://adrianmelis.com en https://adrianmelis.com/articles Fri, 06 Dec 2019 11:25:43 +0000 adrian melis https://adrianmelis.com/articles &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;New Production Structures for (un)productive Labour (2020)by Alessandra Troncone Article written for the book: The Paradox of Labour - A reader on the work of Adrian Melis &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; On the night of 31 August 1935, Aleksey Grigoryevich Stakhanov (1906 - 1977), a Russian miner working in Kadievka (Donbass), extracted 102 tonnes of coal as a result of a technique he had invented based on a division of labour. The amount of quarried coal was fourteen times what was expected, and the work was carried out in less than six hours. The myth of Soviet productivity was born, fuelled by Stalin for political propaganda to demonstrate the effectiveness of the socialist labour system to the world. ‘Stakhanovism’, a movement created in the Soviet Union in the 1930s aimed at increasing productivity by stimulating workers’ commitment, is still used today to describe an employed worker’s zeal, particularly in jobs that require physical effort. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Looking at the work of Adrian Melis, it would seem that something did not work correctly in the transposition of the socialist work system from the Soviet Union to Cuba. The hymn to highly perform has been reduced to an image and numbers with no accurate correspondence to reality: the model conceived for production efficiency seems like the skeleton of a building left unfinished, a theoretical framework which does not happen in practice. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;It is in this delicate interstice between the idea and its application, potential and actualisation, expectation and failure that Melis’ artistic practice lurks. Possible models are reinterpreted, updated, and put to work for different purposes in his works, starting from an original vacuum caused by the State’s absence in regulating production processes. What’s more, the artist resorts to precisely document the process that describes the transformation of the invisible workforce into the final product’s tangibility, which governs every economic-production process. However, here, the production shifts to goods that take the shape of artistic works and procedures. The conversion of the original models leads to new production structures that overturn the status quo. A further conversion occurs in this fundamental step: the Soviet-style model’s effectiveness is put at the capitalist system’s service, producing commodities for the free market. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The lack of things is the engine that sets this entire machine in motion: the absence of materials, initiative, work, and the workers themselves. In ‘The Making of Forty Rectangular Pieces’ (2008) (pg. 60), the lack of raw materials stops the production process. In ‘The Value of Absence’ (2010-12) (pg. 64), the lack of motivation causes workers to be absent from their workplace. In ‘Dream Production Plan’ (2011-2019) (pg. 70), the lack of tasks leads workers to fall asleep at their desks. Finally, in ‘357,790 sqm planned’ (2012) (pg. 92) , it is a numerical deficit that does not add up. These shortcomings are attributed to the State, the sole proprietor within a centralised planned economy and to its looming absence in overseeing production systems’ effectiveness. Nonetheless, such conversions apply not only to the Cuban context. In ‘Terra asciutta’ (Dry Land) (2020) (pg. 96), a site-specific project conceived for the remains of a Roman aqueduct in Naples, an overlapping of absences is made evident: the absence of water once flowing through these ancient ruins and the lack of job opportunities in the surrounding area. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;And so, the following question arises: how can insufficiency be converted into a product? How can initial disarray be transformed into success, reversing the original sin of the failure of the socialist work ethic found within the Cuban context and overturning these results? The answer lies in the emulation of practices for the subversion of purposes. Does the job require payment for the working day? The artist pays the worker, but not to work. Instead, he pays the worker to produce an excuse for why they did not go to work. Does the production chain have specific steps and machinery? When materials are absent, the artist invites workers who have stopped due to inactivity to replicate the same chain through sound. Does the production provide for a product? On the contrary, the production line is activated to create an immaterial output, like sound. The emulation and replication of existing models make these operations real production processes or at least create the illusion that something is moving. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;There is yet another conversion, which this time concerns the use of third-party work to create works of art. In ‘The Wealth of Nations’, Adam Smith proposes a distinction between productive and unproductive labour 1: “There is one sort of labour which adds to the value of the subject upon which it is bestowed; there is another which has no such effect. The former, as it produces a value, may be called productive; the latter, unproductive labour”. As Karl Marx also later remarked, art falls into the category of unproductive work because it does not generate material wealth to produce surplus value. Rather, it is considered a luxury item enjoyed by those who have gained profit from productive labour. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Melis short-circuits these two categories through the processes that regulate his works. Using a workforce meant for a production process, the artist obtains a product-artwork that puts both the worker’s initial and individual unproductivity and the abstract concept of unproductive labour in crisis according to economic liberalism. On the other hand, art qualifies as a possible activator of change,albeit temporary, gaining a social function and reversing its claimed unproductivity. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;These dynamics are evident in the ‘Dream Production Plan’. In Terry Gilliam’s film ‘Brazil’, the story of a society presided over by an obtuse bureaucracy that does not admit errors, the lead character Sam Lowry flees from the reality of a world governed by machines and blind bureaucrats, dreaming of flying with open wings towards an unknown girl. Dreamers in flight are how we imagine the protagonists of Melis’ work. To overcome their boredom at work, they doze off on their wooden desks, giving way to the imagination of the unconscious. These escapes from reality create a real ‘dream factory’: described, illustrated, and packaged in cigar boxes, they become the result of hours of work which are only apparently unproductive. Unlike ‘The Value of Absence’, where the ‘product’ consists of the excuses recorded by the artist and then collected in specific documentation, ‘Dream Production Plan’ generates a tangible and marketable product, recalling the Cuban export product par excellence – cigars – with its packaging. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;It is worth noting that falling asleep on the job - a sinful act according to professional ethics and the common imagination - has, in fact, become the subject of significant research in recent times. As such, reflecting a shift in the concept of productivity; it is no longer measured in working hours but output. With this in mind, breaks are allowed and tolerated, provided that the assigned task is completed as planned. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;In Melis’ works, the outcome holds all the contradictions of the process that generated it, whether managed by others or created by the artist. ‘357,790 sqm planned’, a model of an industrial park is a tangible example of what could have been achieved if production processes had not failed to meet initial expectations. Here, the artist gives form to the void, formalised only by a numerical difference, again giving body to an absence. In this installation, figures listed on the wall appear as outcomes of research and data comparison, resonating with the procedures of Conceptualism. Hans Haacke comes to mind, particularly, with his brilliant project ‘Shapolsky et al. Manhattan Real Estate Holdings, a Real-Time Social System, as of May 1, 1971’, which placed the dubious movements of Mr Shapolsky’s private company under the microscope of public attention. Given Cuba’s socialist background, once again, the State is blamed in Melis’ works. The artist takes over to make the system’s flaws visible, not merely to report a questionable situation, but to suggest alternatives that might creatively use existing structures, emphasising that the apparatus is not wrong in itself, but its management is tainted. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Using otherwise wasted resources, material or human; making use of absence as a productive force; putting workers in the condition of producing something recognisable that gives meaning to their unproductivity, Melis thus lays the foundations of his practice. These processes take advantage of the system’s precariousness and introduce permeabilities between the workplace and the art world to affirm that: ‘unproductive’ is not always synonymous with ‘useless’. It is challenging to establish who the real beneficiary of a process that operates on several levels is; particularly when a compromised situation potentially turns into a marketable dream. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Adrian Melis, La productivité à l’œuvre by Elena Lespes Muñoz &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;(Article in French) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Profondément ancrée dans le contexte de la Révolution cubaine, l’œuvre d’Adrian Melis cherche, non sans ironie, à générer des situations propices à une exploration de ses tenants et aboutissants. Partant d’une observation fine de la réalité cubaine et, au-delà, européenne – le marché de l’emploi, la productivité au travail, l’enlisement bureaucratique ou la corruption étatique –, l’artiste introduit dans sa pratique, mêlant protocoles, vidéos, installations, documents et images, certains des mécanismes observés dont les effets sont ainsi reproduits dans le champ de l’art pour mieux en souligner l’absurdité. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Qu’est-ce qui définit un travail productif ? Est-ce parce qu’il est utile ? Qu’il est producteur de biens et de valeur ? Qu’il s’inscrit socialement dans un système collectif de reconnaissance ? Ou est-ce parce qu’il prend place dans une organisation de type économique, où tout geste quel qu’il soit devient payant ? Profondément ancrée dans le contexte qui l’a vu naître – l’entreprise communiste révolutionnaire cubaine, et plus particulièrement « el periodo especial »– l’œuvre d’Adrian Melis (1985, La Havane) n’offre pas tant de réponses à ces interrogations ; plutôt cherche-t-elle, non sans une certaine ironie, à générer des situations depuis lesquelles les explorer.&nbsp; À partir de cas de figures concrets issus de la réalité cubaine et européenne – le marché de l’emploi, la productivité au travail, l’enlisement bureaucratique ou la corruption étatique –, Adrian Melis reprend dans des œuvres qui mêlent protocoles, vidéos, installations, documents et images, certains mécanismes observés pour en rejouer les effets dans le champ de l’art et en souligner l’absurdité. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Cuba, 1959. À son arrivée au pouvoir, Fidel Castro décrète entre autres mesures choc une réforme complète de l’agriculture. Au programme de celle-ci figure la production de lait, un symbole de la Révolution cubaine pour une meilleure alimentation et la santé du peuple. Aux vaches à viande, le leader communiste tente de substituer les vaches à lait. Les Holstein qu’il fait venir du Canada s’acclimatent mal – un tiers du cheptel meurt –, aussi s’essaie-t-il par la suite à d’improbables croisements entre le zébu local, la Brown Swiss et la Holstein. Ubre Blanca (Mamelle blanche), la « super vache » de Castro voit ainsi le jour en 1972. Elle dépassera toutes les attentes, allant jusqu’à produire 109,5 litres de lait en un seul jour (soit quatre fois la production d’une vache cubaine) pour se voir inscrite au Guinness Book des records. Mascotte de la Révolution, l’Ubre Blanca demeure une anecdote mythique parmi les mutations économiques si ardemment désirées par Castro. Aux yeux d’Adrian Melis, cette vache est l’un des exemples les plus explicites de l’idéal productiviste révolutionnaire cubain avec lequel il a grandi. L’entreprise castriste de la vache à lait, si elle reposait sur le désir – certes louable – d’offrir à chaque enfant du pays la quantité de lait nécessaire à son bon développement et de constituer un bien d’exportation, s’est pourtant transformée en une débauche d’efforts et de solutions techniques, aussi vaines qu’’absurdes. Si l’on se penche sur les discours du Lider Maximo – dont on comprend bien vite qu’il est l’une des principales sources d’inspiration de l’artiste – la productivité, soit le rapport, en volume, entre la production de biens et de services et les moyens mis en œuvre pour sa réalisation, figure comme l’un des principaux mots d’ordre de sa politique et des nombreuses réformes portées par la Révolution : «&nbsp;La seule façon d’augmenter le niveau de vie est d’augmenter la production. Et augmenter la production, c’est augmenter la productivité. La productivité augmente avec la technique et l’organisation.&nbsp;» Aussi, Cuba a-t-elle tout misé, sous l’impulsion de l’URSS, sur la mécanisation du pays&nbsp;: la rationalisation de la production par le recours massif aux machines et à une organisation technique et humaine centralisée par l’Etat devait ouvrir les portes d’un avenir radieux. Mais l’histoire est connue de tous, et bien que ce ne soit pas là notre objet, malgré toutes les réformes sociales, éducatives et économiques entreprises et l’adhésion massive à un idéal révolutionnaire, Cuba a été touchée de plein fouet en 1989 par l’effondrement du bloc soviétique, son principal soutien et pourvoyeur. La période qui a suivi et qui voit grandir Adrian Melis, « el periodo especial » , est marquée par une terrible récession économique (le PIB chute de 38% en 1990) engendrant de graves pénuries. Les mesures qui seront prises alors par Fidel Castro conduiront progressivement le pays à s’ouvrir au tourisme, faire entrer les capitaux étrangers et singulièrement la monnaie nord-américaine. Des changements qui entraineront peu à peu l’économie cubaine sur une voie à deux vitesses, celle du peso, et celle du dollar. À cet état des choses, Adrian Melis, comme toute une génération de Cubains, répond par une forme de désaveu. Difficile de mesurer par exemple l’émotion du père de l’artiste à la fin de son film « The New Man and My Father » (2015) sans avoir en tête ces événements qui conduisirent deux générations à s’opposer sur le devenir de leur pays. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;À l’écran, apparaît un intérieur, où l’on distingue un bureau, un livre, quelques journaux et papiers amoncelés. Au mur, sont punaisés des calendriers, dont l’un représente Fidel Castro en conversation avec Hugo Chavez, des dessins et quelques photographies, où l’on aperçoit Adrian Melis. Torse-nu face à la caméra, son père prend place comme pour répondre aux questions de son fils sur l’héritage de la Révolution cubaine. Dans un échange mutique, l’œil vif, l’homme formule intérieurement les réponses aux questions qui lui sont posées : « Que penses-tu que la Révolution Cubaine t’a apporté ? Crois-tu en « l’homme nouveau » ? Oublierais-tu tes principes pour une économie en meilleure santé ? » Au sujet de l’héritage, succède peu à peu celui d’un futur incertain : « Ma génération, comme celles qui viennent, ne trouve pas de place pour son avenir dans ce pays. » commente Adrian Melis, «&nbsp;le jour où Fidel mourra, (…) Cuba sera de nouveau capitaliste. Penses-tu que cela pourra arriver&nbsp;?&nbsp;». Malgré le silence, le vieil homme s’agite et témoigne d’une inquiétude et d’un malaise, que peine à cacher le rire dont il se fend parfois. À mesure que l’entretien avance, les questions semblent se faire plus dures «&nbsp;Sommes-nous en train d’assister à un naufrage complet ou sauverais-tu quelque chose&nbsp;?&nbsp;», l’homme déglutit. Les premières et dernières paroles du père, «&nbsp;Éteins la caméra&nbsp;», mettent fin à l’échange et scellent l’écart générationnel. «&nbsp;L’homme nouveau&nbsp;» auquel appelait l’idéal de progrès et d’épanouissement des parents élevés avec la Révolution semble bien loin et c’est sur ces points d’achoppement qu’Adrian Melis concentre ses recherches. Plus particulièrement, sur la relation au travail et à la productivité, à Cuba d’abord, puis en Europe, où il vit actuellement. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Travailler, un idéal révolutionnaire contrarié Dans la Constitution cubaine de 1976, le travail a une triple nature : c’est un droit, un devoir et un motif d’honneur. Tout le projet de la Révolution repose sur l’idée que le peuple doit porter et incarner l’idéal de société à laquelle il aspire comme un seul homme. Sergio Carmona, le personnage principal du film Memorias del subdesarollo (1968) de Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, en est le parfait contre-exemple. Intellectuel bourgeois désabusé resté à La Havane après la Révolution malgré la fuite de sa famille et de ses amis, il erre avec ennui dans la capitale sans véritablement d’intérêt pour ce qui s’y déroule. Quand, dans un échange vif, sa jeune amante lui reproche : « Toi, tu n’es ni révolutionnaire, ni gusano », il répond « Alors je suis quoi&nbsp;?&nbsp;», «&nbsp;Rien, tu n’es rien.&nbsp;» lâche-t-elle en guise de verdict définitif. Pour avoir sa place en tant que citoyen de Cuba, il faut œuvrer pour sa Révolution. Travailler revient à incarner son idéal. Mais que se passe-t-il quand les travailleurs ne peuvent plus travailler, que les machines et la production sont à l’arrêt&nbsp;faute de moyens&nbsp;? Que faire quand il n’y a plus rien à produire&nbsp;? C’est la question que s’est posée Adrian Melis quand autour de lui, les usines à l’arrêt et les administrations paralysées par l’absence de budget, ont fait naître désœuvrement, ennui et démotivation. Comme disent les Cubains&nbsp;: « la gente hace como que trabaja y el gobierno, como que paga » (les gens font comme s’ils travaillaient, et l’Etat, comme s’il les payait). Dans son œuvre Elaboración de cuarenta piezas rectangulares para la construcción de un piso (The Making of Forty Rectangular Pieces for a floor construction, 2008), une autre vidéo, l’artiste rencontre les ouvriers d’une entreprise de ciment dont les activités ont été stoppées par défaut d’approvisionnement en matériaux. Assis à attendre et à discuter, ces derniers voient leurs journées de travail se succéder sans rien faire. Adrian Melis leur propose alors de simuler le bruit de leurs machines en marche le temps d’une journée, donnant ainsi l’illusion d’une usine en activité et aux ouvriers celle d’être au travail. À l’ouvrier soumis à la cadence et aux mouvements de sa machine, Adrian Melis substitue une forme d’agentivité où l’homme décide lui-même de son propre rythme. Bien que l’aliénation du corps à la machine semble ici déjouée de prime abord, en réalité, il n’en est rien. Même absente, la machine demeure seule référente d’une activité en cours et modèle le comportement humain dans ses gestes. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;On peut dire que l’artiste produit quelque chose, une œuvre, à l’endroit d’une déficience de productivité. Dès lors, la question qui se pose est de savoir aux yeux de qui cette pièce est productive. De l’État, qui ne voit toujours rien sortir de l’usine ? Des ouvriers qui trouvent temporairement un sens à leur présence au travail&nbsp;? De l’artiste&nbsp;qui cherche à produire un décalage avec le réel&nbsp;? Ou du milieu de l’art qui investit ce geste d’une valeur symbolique et financière ? Dans une négociation permanente avec la productivité imposée, celle rêvée, rentable et efficiente d’une industrie d’État, Adrian Melis tente de répondre par la création d’une forme autre qui lui demeure néanmoins assujettie. L’art ne semble pas plus échapper à l’impératif de productivité si l’on pense à l’exigence de sens qui lui est dévolue et que les discours à son endroit s’efforcent d’assumer. De la fabrique paralysée à l’œuvre, la production de valeur demeure liée aux gestes des ouvriers, qu’ils activent véritablement leurs machines, ou qu’ils fassent semblant de le faire. L’artiste n’opère qu’un simple déplacement. Si les ouvriers retrouvent ponctuellement un sens à leur activité et à leur rôle, celui-ci demeure lié à la machine et au travail. La réalisation de l’œuvre passe ici encore par l’acte de travailler, ou de faire comme si. C’est l’activation de la machine, réelle ou fictive, qui demeure la condition d’une productivité, matérielle dans un cas – l’usine est approvisionnée en matériaux, les machines tournent à bloc et du ciment est produit – symbolique et esthétique dans l’autre – l’usine n’est pas approvisionnée en matériaux, les machines à l’arrêt sont activées symboliquement par les ouvriers qui en imitent le bruit. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Comment moins de travail produit plus de valeur Avec l’installation El valor de la ausencia - Excusas para ausentarse de su centro laboral (The value of absence - Excuses to be absent from your work center, 2009-2010), constituée d’une vidéo, de documents et de mobilier de bureau, l’artiste pousse la réflexion plus loin. Ayant constaté un manque généralisé de motivation à travailler du fait de la faiblesse des salaires face au coût de la vie qui n’a cessé d’augmenter, Adrian Melis convertit l’absence au travail devenue monnaie courante en une activité rentable, pour le travailleur comme pour lui. La tolérance des entreprises d’État, auprès de qui nombre de fonctionnaires multiplient les excuses d’absence vite trouvées, laisse libre cours à ces manquements que l’artiste vient réinvestir d’une valeur productive paradoxale. Le travailleur voit ses jours d’absence rémunérés par l’artiste en échange de l’enregistrement de l’appel téléphonique donné à sa hiérarchie pour prévenir de son absence. Absence dont le coût se voit donc neutralisé pour les travailleurs dont le salaire est maintenu sans effort. Sauf peut-être celui de trouver la bonne excuse, c’est-à-dire celle qui leur fera obtenir le plus de jours d’absence : de l’accident de vélo au rendez-vous chez le psychanalyste, en passant par l’inscription à l’université, ou la sortie à la plage, elles sont nombreuses et apparaissent pour certaines par trop audacieuses. Pour l’artiste, plus les travailleurs lui vendent d’excuses et s’absentent, plus son travail prend de la valeur et se charge symboliquement. Il investit ici un espace laissé vacant de la chaîne de production étatique pour lui donner un rôle dans une nouvelle chaîne de fabrication de sens, celle de la production artistique. L’absence, qui représente également un coût pour l’employeur dont l’activité, quelle qu’elle soit, se voit ralentie, prend donc de la valeur une fois déplacée dans le champ de l’art. Or si l’on s’en tient au philosophe écossais Adam Smith, pour qui la valeur d’un bien est égale à la quantité de travail qu’a nécessité sa réalisation, ces absences n’auraient aucune valeur puisqu’elles équivalent à une somme de travail nulle. Mais l’économiste se concentre sur la grandeur de la valeur et non sur sa nature. Par son geste, l’artiste investit la nature même de ces absences, à travers lui, elles dérogent à l’écueil du zéro. Ici, la valeur ne naît pas de rien, sinon d’une « plus-value artistique » comme l’est par exemple l’effort particulier d’Adrian Melis pour convaincre les travailleurs absentéistes de voir leurs congés sans solde payés en échange d’un enregistrement destiné à l’œuvre. Pour l’entreprise, l’absence n’a pas de valeur, mais un coût&nbsp;; pour le travailleur, il en va autrement du fait de la rémunération offerte par Adrian Melis&nbsp;; pour ce dernier, l’absence est le fondement même de la valeur. Une relation antagonique se tisse ici&nbsp;puisque l’absence possède une valeur pour Adrian Melis précisément parce qu’elle n’en a pas dans le contexte salarial&nbsp;: ce qui se perd à un endroit se gagne à un autre. On distinguera également le prix payé par l’artiste pour la production de la pièce –114 personnes absentes et 327 jours non travaillés pour un investissement initial d’une centaine de dollars environ – de la valeur prise par celle-ci à ses yeux et à ceux des publics de l’art. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;On peut faire un constat similaire avec l’œuvre Plan de producción de sueños para las empresas estatales en Cuba (Dreams Production Plan for State-run Companies in Cuba, 2012-2013) une installation constituée d’une centaine de petites boîtes numérotées contenant des récits de rêve, ainsi que de documents et de photographies. Pour cette œuvre, l’artiste a demandé à des salariés de relater, dans un carnet, les rêves qu’ils ont pu faire en s’endormant sur leur lieu de travail. Encore une fois, c’est l’inactivité que semble provoquer la laborieuse machine étatique qui offre à l’artiste la possibilité d’investir les temps morts du travail. La productivité y apparaît à nouveau comme nulle. Détournée au profit de l’œuvre – une machine à produire des rêves – elle recouvre son efficience, c’est-à-dire une capacité de rendement dans le monde onirique. N’ayant aucune valeur pour l’entreprise, le rêve se trouve ici investi d’un supplément considérable pour devenir un bien dont la valeur grandit via l’œuvre. Une fois encore, plus Adrian Melis recueille de rêves, plus l’ennui qui les a engendrés devient source d’une productivité insoupçonnée et d’une forme de rentabilité artistique. Cette rentabilité est également payante puisque l’œuvre est ensuite mise à la vente sur le marché de l’art international. Le vocabulaire conceptuel auquel fait appel l’artiste demeure volontairement le même que celui du monde de l’économie, mais se trouve dévoyé dans le processus de création mis en place. Le « travail&nbsp;», la «&nbsp;productivité&nbsp;», la «&nbsp;rentabilité&nbsp;» et «&nbsp;l’efficience&nbsp;» sont mobilisés à un endroit, l’art, considéré jusque-là historiquement comme exempt de ce type de contingences. Cette recontextualisation lui permet d’en subvertir les mécanismes. C’est par ce processus que le travail de l’artiste peut être qualifié de «&nbsp;productif&nbsp;» de sens et de valeur. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Techniques de survie En plaçant le travail au cœur de son projet de société, la Révolution Cubaine a fait de celui-ci le moteur de son expansion, au même titre que le système capitaliste auquel elle prétendait s’opposer. L’idéal productiviste cubain se voyait incarné par la force de travail investie par ses citoyens, qui œuvraient ainsi collectivement à sa consécration. Incités à s’identifier à leur fonction productive pour reprendre en main leur existence, par leur effort, ces « hommes nouveaux&nbsp;» ne pouvaient qu’advenir et se réaliser pleinement en s’emparant de l’appareil productif. Mais la Révolution n’a pas changé la nature des relations capitalistes d’exploitation et de domination, ni la structure de la division internationale du travail dont on a vu l’impact sur l’économie cubaine. Pour le philosophe français André Gorz, cette rationalisation du travail qu’est la division (internationale ou locale) sépare les ouvriers de ce qu’ils produisent&nbsp;: «&nbsp;L'activité productive [est] coupée de son sens, de ses motivations et de son objet pour devenir simplement une façon d’obtenir un salaire. Elle cess[e] de faire partie de la vie pour devenir le moyen de « gagner sa vie ». Le prométhéisme marxiste, caractérisé par le désir de se surpasser, le goût de l’effort et les grandes entreprises, et le culte du travailleur qui fondent l’utopie prolétaire reposent alors sur une éthique du travail caduque. Dans le contexte cubain, où l’emploi salarié d’État ne suffit pas à couvrir les besoins vitaux des travailleurs, le désengagement généralisé est de mise et donne à voir, non sans absurdité, cette rupture. Dans Planificación encubierta (2018), des notes sur papier et des photographies encadrées, Adrian Melis compile les stratégies mises en place par sa propre famille durant le « periodo especial » pour survivre. Tirées des souvenirs de sa grand-mère qui vit désormais à Miami, elles ont été compilées sous la forme de planches de dessins et de notes. Ces techniques de survie sont réparties selon cinq catégories (trafic, distribution, main d’œuvre, importation et idéologie), on y trouve notamment l’élevage de chats siamois destiné à la vente sur le territoire états-unien, la rénovation de biens immobiliers et leur location à des prostituées ou la livraison de viande bovine via les cartables d’écolier. Ces « micro-entreprises&nbsp;» sont monnaie courante durant cette période et pour, certaines, à la limite de la légalité. Elles ont permis à nombre de familles de s’assurer des revenus quotidiens malgré une situation économique difficile, le coût de la vie étant alors bien supérieur aux revenus salariés des habitants et des habitantes de l’île. Une autre économie informelle est ainsi venue pallier les déficiences de l’emploi étatique et constitue aujourd’hui une partie non-négligeable de l’économie cubaine, bien que difficilement mesurable. Pour Sergio Carmona, anti-héros désabusé de Memorias del Subdesarollo cité plus haut, « tout le talent du Cubain est gâché à s’adapter au moment présent&nbsp;». &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Au-delà du contexte cubain, les œuvres d’Adrian Melis semblent aborder la perspective productiviste plus largement, déployant un regard sur le travail, sa place dans la société et les relations qui le régissent. Le citoyen cubain comme l’homme occidental trouve dans l’emploi une source de revenus, mais également une certaine reconnaissance sociale. Dans l’installation The Best Effort (2013), l’artiste fait publier quatre offres de postes dans différents quotidiens espagnols et sur des sites de recherche d’emplois. En vue de postuler, les candidats joignent le numéro indiqué au pied de l’annonce, leur appel est ensuite redirigé sur l’un des quatre téléphones situés dans l’espace d’exposition. Lorsque quelqu’un appelle, la sonnerie du téléphone déclenche un discours sur le plein-emploi prononcé par l’un des quatre premiers ministres espagnols que sont Felipe González, José María Aznar, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero et Mariano Rajoy. Face aux paroles pleines d’allant de ces dirigeants sur le retour à la croissance économique et les promesses de création d’emploi, la tonalité des appels se perd dans le vide où ceux-ci sont laissés sans réponse. Aux paroles des uns répond le silence de l’employeur – fictif dans le cas présent. Dans Linea de producción por excedente (Surplus Production Line, 2014), l’artiste crée une entreprise privée à Amsterdam, à partir de laquelle il publie plusieurs offres d’emploi destinées à des ressortissants espagnols pour un travail de 2 heures quotidiennes, cinq jours par semaine. La personne recrutée a pour mission d’imprimer les autres Curriculum Vitae reçus pour les passer consciencieusement, un à un au broyeur à papier. La masse de papier découpée s’accumule progressivement en tas dans l’espace par ce geste inlassable qui traduit toute la violence de la mise en concurrence des travailleurs entre eux. Les rares places disponibles sur le marché du travail comparées au grand nombre de demandeurs d’emploi sont source de tension et de compétition. La violence toute symbolique de ce broyage de papier – la destruction concerne les CV et non des emplois réels, même si ce geste condamne l’accès au seul emploi ici créé – rend compte de la dure concurrence du marché de l’emploi et illustre la glaciale indifférence des mécanismes de rejet à l’embauche. Ici rationalisée par un geste fordien – l’action simple et répétée inlassablement des CV glissés les uns après les autres dans la broyeuse –, la violence se révèle clinique, désincarnée et usante. Le job consiste à détruire toute perspective de travail pour autrui, via une action abrupte qui n’est pas sans rappeler l’expérience de Milgram, qui permet d’évaluer le degré d’obéissance d’un individu devant une autorité qu’il juge légitime et d’analyser le processus de soumission à celle-ci, lorsque les ordres transmis lui posent un problème de conscience. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;À des situations de travail hétéronome, l’artiste substitue des situations de travail artistique autonome, affranchies de toute nécessité et n’ayant d’autre fin qu’elles-mêmes. On appelle hétéronome un travail dont les finalités échappent au contrôle de son exécutant qui ne travaille qu’en vue d’obtenir un salaire, qui lui permettra d’acquérir des biens produits par d’autres. C’est ce que Karl Marx appelle le travail « abstrait ». Le fait d’aborder sous un nouveau jour le travail et de sa productivité permet à l’artiste de pointer, non sans humour, les écueils de la course productiviste. Plus largement, c’est l’interpénétration inévitable des processus de division du travail, d’exploitation et de production qui s’y trouve mise en lumière. Quelle que soit la situation abordée par Adrian Melis, le travail y apparaît dans un premier temps comme seule source de richesse possible, semblant fonder la mesure de toute valeur. C’est sans compter sur ses interventions qui requalifient positivement tout écueil de productivité par un déplacement dans un domaine considéré comme traditionnellement affranchi de ces enjeux, celui de l’art. Son travail oscille entre un espace d’assignation à la production, à la prévision et au calcul, et celui d’une énergie dépensée à perte, dans l’absurde comme dans la violence. L’artiste ne propose pas pour autant de résolution à cette tension, qui se voit au contraire assumée comme manifestation privilégiée des contradictions qu’il aborde aux dépens de toute forme de représentation symbolique ou métaphorique. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The Cuban Touch (2020)Preface for the book: The Paradox of Labour - a reader on the work of Adrian Melisby Rose Marie Barrientos &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Date and place of birth are the first public details about us, two descriptive facts that state who we are, and - joined to our name - begin to define who we may become. Perhaps our country of origin is losing its relevance, like the now fluidified notion of gender. In a globalized society, it matters less where we come from than where we currently are. This is particularly true of business expats, but it also applies to contemporary artists, multilingual world-travellers with double nationalities, who move from place to place following their dreams and the flux of today’s art world, often travelling far and wide to attend exhibition openings, residence programs or international art fairs where their work is sold. Adrian Melis, the artist whose work and approach this book sets out to explore, joins this cohort. A Cuban national with Spanish citizenship, he has had numerous exhibitions in the global scene and has relocated several times already since his early twenties, when he left Cuba a little over a decade ago. He has lived in Spain, Greece, and Holland, and at present, is settling in Italy for... who knows how long. Roaming the world is certainly something the artist enjoys, yet as every traveller knows, our roots remain connected to where they were first planted. No matter how far we go, our birth’s geography and chronology are not subject to change and, like our DNA, determine our attributes and outlook on life, including our affinities, preferences, or the things we dislike. Therefore, it is appropriate to begin in Havana, Cuba, 1985, the space-time junction where Adrian Melis starts. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The year Adrian Melis was born was not a good one for Fidel Castro. In fact, two important events took place that very same year, one eliciting immediate distress, and the other heralding a future catastrophe. The first was the death of Ubre Blanca (White Udder), Castro’s super-cow. The animal was half Holstein/half Zebu, but that’s beside the point. The cow was famous for her prodigious capacity to produce milk: up to 110 litres in a single day. According to many accounts, the leader of the Revolution had developed an obsession with the bovine, who lived comfortably in a guarded barn in Isla de la Juventud. She was fed special meals of grass, honey, and grapefruits by a personal caretaker and listened to music on a portable radio for her relaxation. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The press reported almost daily on the cow’s achievements, and artists celebrated her with poems and songs. She was still alive when a couple of young sculptors were commissioned to immortalize her in marble. Castro visited Ubre Blanca often and showed her off to visiting dignitaries, all the while bragging about the four-legged compañera, as if her lactational prowess were proof of socialist superiority. This super cow project was just one among several outlandish agricultural projects initiated with manic urgency. Castro was driven not only by his desire to modernize the industry for the benefit of his people but also by a burning need to surpass and outshine Cuba’s imperialist neighbour. In his efforts to generate growth for the state-controlled economy, Castro conducted venture upon venture with whimsical passion and imagination – like an artist, only less successful. His enterprises failed repeatedly, and many instead ended up causing increasing hardship to the population. The sudden death of Ubre Blanca, while not a major economic tragedy, was yet another blow to the illusion of a triumphant revolution. The despondent population learned of the cow’s demise from its obituary, published in ‘Granma’, the official newspaper. Her remains were entrusted to a team of taxidermists with instructions to keep enough of her to be cloned in the future; she was then set up in a monumental glass urn where she is still on display. Such occurrences may seem uncanny to those unfamiliar with the Caribbean and Latin American cultures, but here magical realism and tropical surrealism are part of life, not merely genres. Nobody knows for sure how Ubre Blanca died, but while she was being mourned, grimmer trouble was brewing in a land far away. It would soon hit the island worse than a hurricane. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The second critical incident of 1985 took place in the USSR, Cuba’s socialist motherland. Its effects would take years to arrive. Even after the Mariel boatlift, the first significant wave of popular discontent that inaugurated the eighties, most people believed that the best was yet to come.1 Until the end of the decade, the socialist dream appeared to be more or less accomplished: inequalities disappeared as the class system was eliminated. Despite the island’s impoverishment, everyone had a job, food, housing, health care, and education. Yet, Cuba’s relative fortune was artificially created, planned, and dispensed by the Soviet Union. Appreciative of its geographical proximity to the United States, which made it a strategic during the Cold War, the USSR secured the new Communist nation’s livelihood through subsidies and trade agreements.2 The Soviet-sponsored bubble started to burst in 1985, with Mikhail Gorbachev’s appointment as Secretary- General of the Communist Party. No one could have foreseen that that simple act laid the premise of a monumental shockwave with devastating effects for the island. Unlike Castro’s attempts to redress the economy by applying Marxist-Leninist principles, Gorbachev launched a decisive restructuration program that, concomitant with the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, culminated in the dissolution of the Soviet bloc. This sounded the expiration of Cuba’s economic standing and the onset of its darkest hours. On New Year’s Eve of 1989, Castro announced that the Soviet partner would provide no more, inaugurating what he decided to call the ‘Período Especial’ (Special Period). &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Adrian Melis was still a child when Cuba entered the Special Period. His parents accepted the rigours with a certain pride, as did all true Communists at the time. The whole population endured scarcity, blackouts, rationing, and famine without knowing how long the situation would last. Things got worse year after year, and soon there was no food, no electricity, no fuel, no water, no medicines, no soap, “no nothing,” as some recall. Then market stalls emptied, and everything on the island came to a complete halt. Thousands had already fled to Miami – Adrian’s grandmother among them, who would later be one of the artist’s most valuable accomplices – and another massive exodus took place in 1994.3 As Cuba’s economy shrunk, the “new man and woman” beckoned by Che Guevara were left unemployed, aimless workers who headed daily to inexistent jobs and afterwards stood in lines for hours for whatever they could score.4 To alleviate the situation, Castro’s government decriminalized the U.S. dollar and developed tourism to invite new capital, but this made matters worse. With the introduction of foreign visitors and a double currency came fancy hotels, restaurants, shops... and inequality: the gap grew larger between the haves (tourists with CUC) and the have-nots (locals with CUP). The former paid to see the island’s misery, marketed as picturesque, while the latter discovered the untroubled lifestyle that they had been missing and could never hope to attain. By the turn of the century, Castro’s cry Patria o Muerte! (Fatherland or Death!) sounded like a hollow echo or a sad old joke. Adrian’s generation witnessed icons fall, and ideals decay and fell out of love with the Revolution. Yet some good must be said of the Special Period, for it taught resilience and boosted ingenuity. To confront the adversities, people had to improvise and invent, or as the Cubans like to say, they had to “resolve.” &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The verb ‘resolver’ is frequently employed, extending its meaning to encompass the breadth it developed under the Special Period, meaning: “... to solve, to make do, to figure something out, to survive with what you have, to reinvent, and to get by resourcefully.” It’s clear that more than a verb, “resolver” is a necessity and a rather crucial talent. Fortunately, it’s available to everyone. Only wit and a sense of complicity are required to acquire it. Adrian Melis knows this word well and conjugates it with brio, giving it a central role in his artistic endeavour. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Having sketched the artist’s background, let us now turn to his work, starting with his references. Among those who have influenced and inspired him, an essential figure is Tania Bruguera. Adrian Melis attended her Cátedra Arte de Conducta (Behavior Art Department) in 2007, an experience that marked a significant turn in his view of art and determined his current practice. As will be seen further in this book, many of his works bear the stamp of Arte Útil (Useful Art), a concept developed by Bruguera. Unlike his female compatriot, however, Melis doesn’t go after the political gesture, although political issues transpire in his work. He unmasks and reveals them using subtle strategies rather than developing a frontal critique. His tactics include humour and a sense of the absurd, something he adapts from the American culture jammers, The Yes Men, whom he cites among his influences. As for his approach of visual language and narrative style, it was nourished by several great Cuban filmmakers who inspire him, among them Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Santiago Álvarez Román and Nicolás Guillén Landrián, who was also a painter. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Fidel Castro must also be included when considering Melis’s sources of inspiration. One could almost say that in his very own way, Melis is successful where Castro failed. Not only does he (figuratively) reactivate idle working places, he generates employment for the inactive workers (who are remunerated for their participation while partaking in an art project). He capitalizes on these ventures once the resulting pieces enter and are sold in the art market. By coming up with new means and ways to restart a broken system, Adrian Melis confronts problems facing both artists and the ordinary worker, bringing to mind the parallels between them. Through these feats, the artist assumes the role of manager and fixer of failed businesses, becoming a sort of improvised economist fond of art-making.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Indeed, all things economic have become a trope in art over the past half-century. Artists of the sixties found a vibrant subject in consumer society and the postwar years’ affluent lifestyle. As the economy grew, it became a central preoccupation not only for specialists but for the entire population, including artists who scrutinized it and discovered inspiration in every aspect of our economic system. Since the early nineties, hundreds of exhibitions have highlighted this subject’s relevancy, and thousands of artworks informed by economic matters are created, displayed, and discussed every year. The themes explored or featured in “economics art” are as diverse as is economic phenomena.5 Artistic approaches of the economic subject are also varied and inventive: economic issues have been depicted, re-presented, and imitated; they have been appropriated, derided, condemned, and also reinterpreted through detournement. What is noteworthy here is that what we’re accustomed to seeing identified as economics art is for the most part inspired by capitalist economy. As a matter of fact, it has been suggested that the economic theme arose in art as a consequence or at least concurrent to the emergence of contemporary capitalism. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The work of Adrian Melis challenges this theory by shifting the focal point towards socialist economy and therefore broadens the area of artistic and academic interest. This “Cuban touch” is unexpected and should not go undetected, for it opens a window to a new perspective. Literature is available on the art of the Soviet period, meaning Socialist realism and other collaborations between artists and socialist states, as is on art defying communist political ideology, such as Soviet Nonconformist Art or, more relevant here, the work of Tania Bruguera. Little has been said, however, if anything at all, on an economics art informed by socialist or communist economies. By zooming in on Cuba’s state-controlled economic system, Melis establishes that it’s not capitalism alone that fascinates artists, “It’s the Economy, Stupid”. 7 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Not all the artist’s projects are centred on the economy, but they are all context-based, always dealing with current situations. The immediate environment furnishes him his most significant inspiration. Socioeconomic issues frequently appear in his projects, as do questions of ethics, particularly the disturbing prevalence of double standards, a global phenomenon. For Adrian Melis, art exists in a dimension of its own, separate from the social dimension, but that doesn’t stop him from probing reality, then processing it and reorganizing it into a given form. To put it in other words, art for him functions as a thinking tool. He uses video, photography, and installation, frequently including a sound dimension in his artworks, either through its presence or staged absence. Elaborate data structures requiring lengthy research stand behind all his projects, as well as a conceptual frame. The examples presented in this book corroborate this claim and confirm, as does the artist himself, that through this approach, he articulates complex statements about the realities he contemplates. While the pieces gathered here stand independently, they can also be understood as conceptual clusters, stitched together with a common thread. The chapters’ organization responds to this internal logic; a methodology adopted more by intuition than scientific intent. Adrian is concerned with facts and statistics and often applies tools from other disciplines to calibrate his works. Several themes are recurring in his artistic universe. Still, it would be more exact to say that his main inquiry centres on solutions or strategies for inhabiting the world and, in the process, negotiating self-survival. This is undoubtedly a serious endeavour, even a hazardous one in our catastrophic times. But as a native Cuban artist born in 1985, he has the resourcefulness to circumvent and overcome trouble. Otherwise said, Adrian Melis resuelve. It may be a good idea for us to get acquainted with this verb too. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;WORK. Documents of Contemporary Art Anthology about work's relationships with art. Included an interview of Friederike Sigler to Adrian Melis, 2017 Copublished by Whitechapel Gallery and The MIT Press &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Friederike Sigler: For Dreams Production Plan for State-run Companies in Cuba (2010-12) you asked workers to write down the dreams they have while falling asleep during their work time. To sleep during work seems a paradox, specially in the context of modern production logics. Can the sleeping workers be considered as strikers? &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Adrian Melis: Sleeping at work seems like a paradox in the western world: in Cuba, however, it is completely normal. In the work of Dreams Production Plan as well as in all my works I select and deal with existing issues within stablished socio-economic structures. In Cuba the state has complete control over the economic structures and means of production. It projects the illusion of productivity, even if these structures it has set are useless and do not function. I call these structures “ghost production structures”. Cuba is an island where the paradoxical occurs naturally. It is prohibited to fight for your labor rights - even just placing a complaint is usually not an option- and no one has the courage publicly to make a demand for change. Simply put, we pretend to be productive within an unproductive system, and for this reason sleeping during work hours changes nothing; we wake up caught in the same cycle. The system is not affected in any way, because productivity is dispensable for it to continue working as it is. Imagine that your duty is to be in a battlefield, provided with the right ammunition, well prepared, eager, everything is set but there is no war happening and no war is coming. The workers “dormant” state is a consequence of the State, since there are no means to protest for one´s labour rights as there are in other countries, so sleeping is the only thing you can do. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;In addition to showing the dreams of Cubans, one of my main objetives for this project was to achieve a production line that would allow me to demonstrate in tangible form that the dreams of socialism are a marketable product, a merchandise that can be mass produced and exported. Dreams Production Plan is a critique of the establishment. It presents an alternate system that allows for productivity to happen using the existing structures, without changing or interfering with the day-to-day work rituals. The workers know by now how to use the system to their own benefit, in fact, it is not the workers who are striking, it is the government that is striking and struggling to stop western ideologies from infiltrating Cuba. The government is in constant “strike” and the workers are the pawns of this play. In a capitalist system no margin exist to question the definition of productivity, since it has already been firmly established through an ideology of growth, advancement, evolution, expansion etc. Productivity in Cuba is still a fluid term. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Sigler: &nbsp;A similar version of “non-work” is presented in The Value of Absence (2010-2012), a collection of various excuses for staying away from work. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Melis: &nbsp;The difference between Dreams Production Plan and The Value of Absence is that in the formar, I created a product without intervening or changing the employees´regular day at work. In The value of Absence the excuses of the workers become the engine that drives the work beyond this façade of our reality and into a platform wherein the workers don’t only stop working but are paid to do it. The payment was equal to the amount they would be paid had they gone to work. If we consider the consequences that this activity could bring, The Value of Absence could be considered as an attack against the establishment, in Cuba as well as in the rest of the world. The excuses allowed 114 people to miss out on work, to be precise altogether 327 working days, with approximately 90 euros which at the time was close to 127,70 Cuban pesos. Imagine if I had a budget of 3,000 euros at my disposal. I could have paralysed Havana. In a capitalist context I would have been put in jail but in Cuba, I could have paralysed the capital without anyone noticing, because the system is already paralysed. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;CUBA TALKS Interviews with 28 contemporary artists by Jerôme Sans and Laura Salas Redondoeditoriale: Rizzoli &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Adrian Melis Subverting conditions of work, by Jerôme Sans&nbsp; interview &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Jerôme Sans: How would you describe your work? &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Adrian Melis: My work aims to find a different way of understanding our reality. In my works, I use concepts, phenomena or social behaviours as a raw material in order to create a parallel reality; a dystopian and surrealist world in which people and social production systems behave differently. From the beginning, I have been interested in the concept of usefulness of what we produce not only within the art world but also in the daily life of those people given over to the god of “work”. In this sense, there is an attempt of turn absence into presence, the invisible into the visible, and silence into sound. The procedural nature of my work makes me put into practice the creation of new production structures that feed on the absence of real structures. I see my work as a graphic scheme where the actions and lines are interconnected in order to reach a certain conclusion more typical of a person who comes from the world of business and statistics than from the world of art. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;JS: How do the contemporary socioeconomic realities of Cuba influence your work? &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;AM: I was always interested in the paradoxes of the context that surrounds me, especially in a country where everything works in a surreal and illogical way. In Night Watch, a video I made in 2005, I had to steal wood from a state carpentry shop in order to build a surveillance post for the same workshop’s security guard so that he would have the ideal conditions to monitor that carpentry. That’s when the concept of the “state” and the lack of commitment to work by the state began to draw my attention. On the other hand, when I started in college, one of my main concerns was that I was going to produce (within the context of art) in a country where nobody is interested in producing anything. That apathy and detachment at the social level led me to ask myself why we produce and for whom we do it. When one of the workers of the factory in the video The Making of… questioned me, he said: “Dude, there are no materials here, there are no jobs, there ain’t nothin. What do you want me to produce?” It is a crucial question that even today I still try to answer. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Another challenge I had as an artist was to prove that Cuba institutions could do without the labor force without absolutely anything happening. Why? Because they stopped working a long time ago. This type of workplace I usually call “ghost companies” and Cuba is full of them. The Value of Absence was the answer to this question. All the participants in that piece wanted to miss work and invent the most incredible excuses in order to achieve it. After that challenge, I had another on even more difficult not only as an artist but as an individual grown and formed in the decline of the revolutionary ideal in the 90s. Can one as an individual live and satisfy this personal needs in a socialist system like the Cuba one? As a social individual, I would say that the answer is: NO In Dream Production Plan I would try to find a solution to that question. Rather than only exporting sugar, coffee or nickel, we could also export dreams. My answer was a follows: converting the dream of a worker who sleeps during working hours into an exportable and profitable commodity in the art world. I remember one day I said to my brother: “Normally in Cuba, you can live well if someone helps you from the capitalist world.” My idea was to achieve the opposite, in my own way to convert an unproductive system into something productive. Unfortunately, I have been able to apply this concept only in my own world and my work. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;JS: Do you think the expression of an artist can influence the world of work affected by unemployment, corruption, and bureaucratic inefficiency? &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;AM: From my point of view, the artist does not change anything outside the field of art itself, as much as it inspires other fields, it is not about changing or generating an impact, but about looking for a different way of approaching and communicating a position or positioning. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;In my work, I have always tried to use art as a tool to creat an appearance of productivity in a totally unproductive system. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;I mean, when the machine operator in The Making of Forty Rectangular Pieces hears his voice making the noice of a cement mixer, he exclaims “Look, the factory works, we have achieved it, and it works! You are a genius!” That’s when you realise that an economic system like the Cuban one could only be productive within the sphere of the artistic. This is where art becomes the ideal platform to turn that lack of motivation into its opposite: a production system works only in a parallel reality: art. This does not mean I am criticising the inefficiency of the Cuban administrative system, but I am simply using an exiting reality and subverting it to make utopia possible. The objective of my work has never been criticism, I was never interested in criticising anything, and reducing a reading to that level would be an oversimplification. Cuba is a very complex set of hierarchies and different ways of understanding reality, very different from the West. In both cases, I have always sought to observe reality not on the visible side, but on its dark side. This allows you to create structures that work in an unusual way. When I lived in Spain the reality was clear to identify: there is no work, there is unemployment. That’s what I saw. There are so many unemployed people that if we put them all together there is enough material to carry out a new production structure that, in turn, generates a different kind of employment. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; JS: Would you consider your work political? &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; AM: To be honest, I’m more interested in journalism, anthropology, and statistics than in politics. “political art” is a totally unfocused and confusing concept that, in my view, has that curse of nostalgia for the historical past where utopia, commitment, and hope for change where valid approaches. Art, in my opinion, is super elitist, it has always been, and it is useless for anything other than art itself. It has that quality of being “useless” however much it tries to mix with other practices such as activism or so-called “community art”. In spite of that, I do believe it offers the possibility of seeing reality from another perspective, and that seems to me, more interesting than criticism of elitist activism (within art). Obviously, everything is political, but in my case, I never considered my work a political gesture. There are other tools to analyse a socioeconomic system beyond the concrete political positioning of the artist. We live in an overly politicised world and tend to see things in black and white when in fact there are many more nuances. That is why I have always been interested in a more multifaceted type of work open to interpretations.&nbsp; https://adrianmelis.com/publications Fri, 06 Dec 2019 11:57:49 +0000 adrian melis https://adrianmelis.com/publications THE PARADOX OF LABOUR - A READER ON THE WORK OF ADRIAN MELIS(2021) Supported by Pori Art Museum (Pori, Finland), Adn Galeria (Barcelona) and Publics (Helsinki) 248 pages Printed in Barcelona <img width="843" height="1206" width_o="843" height_o="1206" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6e51e258a15a57cc68ad908b15b7dcd8682c753df519501321fe0057a3b26b6f/Screenshot-2021-03-31-at-19.07.27.png" data-mid="103898309" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/843/i/6e51e258a15a57cc68ad908b15b7dcd8682c753df519501321fe0057a3b26b6f/Screenshot-2021-03-31-at-19.07.27.png" /> CUBA TALKS Interview with 28 contemporary artist by Jerome Sans and Laura Salas RedondoEditoriale Rizzoli <img width="1772" height="2437" width_o="1772" height_o="2437" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d341b94d8a89e4411e240a1dee1e6943ab9e5853e1365ac8d8e261c222a9c168/Screenshot-2019-12-06-at-12.32.51.png" data-mid="56129773" border="0" data-scale="99" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d341b94d8a89e4411e240a1dee1e6943ab9e5853e1365ac8d8e261c222a9c168/Screenshot-2019-12-06-at-12.32.51.png" /> WORK. Documents of Contemporary Art Anthology about work's relationships with art. Included an interview of Friedrik Sigler to Adrian Melis, 2017 Copublished by Whitechapel Gallery and The MIT Press <img width="482" height="676" width_o="482" height_o="676" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5f599b936ef1d58e5c8e3af8f0eba50fef20f3a6a551d64c69970bea5733368b/Screen-Shot-2018-10-18-at-14_10_24.png" data-mid="60202611" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/482/i/5f599b936ef1d58e5c8e3af8f0eba50fef20f3a6a551d64c69970bea5733368b/Screen-Shot-2018-10-18-at-14_10_24.png" /> Avaritia Omnium Malorum Radix* 12a Biennal Martínez Guerricabeitia - Universitat València Centre Cultural La Nau, Sala Acadèmia <img width="482" height="676" width_o="482" height_o="676" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c10011084cffc475f61086270a1f19aec1b6397f507409c0d43b0af40f986077/Screen-Shot-2018-10-18-at-14_10_39.png" data-mid="60202503" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/482/i/c10011084cffc475f61086270a1f19aec1b6397f507409c0d43b0af40f986077/Screen-Shot-2018-10-18-at-14_10_39.png" /> Adrian Melis- Dreams Production Plan by state-run companies in Cuba Catalogue 2nd Prize ArtNou 2013 ArtBarcelona (Contemporary Art Galleries Association). 2013 With the collaboration of Institut de Cultura de Barcelona and production from ADN Galería <img width="482" height="676" width_o="482" height_o="676" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5ff8afcfb869ac86f627f7e04710bd14df2cc6a1bffdbc057fe542e8e3376ef5/Screen-Shot-2018-10-18-at-15_49_01.png" data-mid="60202504" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/482/i/5ff8afcfb869ac86f627f7e04710bd14df2cc6a1bffdbc057fe542e8e3376ef5/Screen-Shot-2018-10-18-at-15_49_01.png" /> FORMS OF DISTANCING Representative Politics and the Politics of Representation Edited by Stefano Collicelli Cagol, Luigi Fassi and Steirischer Herbst Published per Mousse, Mousse Publishing <img width="482" height="676" width_o="482" height_o="676" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/712aa1baa976942f64bf205008038935168663bb377ec6dec7819adbddeb4d80/Screen-Shot-2018-10-18-at-14_10_32.png" data-mid="60202501" border="0" data-scale="98" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/482/i/712aa1baa976942f64bf205008038935168663bb377ec6dec7819adbddeb4d80/Screen-Shot-2018-10-18-at-14_10_32.png" /> INTERIMS Art for employment Catalogue of the exhibition Interims at La Panacée #1 Ville de Montpelier Silviana Editoriale S.p.A <img width="482" height="676" width_o="482" height_o="676" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f04cb011451ed13cffeef8c2d960e7e64c34fffab398c815ded3df621cb65a11/IMG_7600_JPG.jpg" data-mid="60202488" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/482/i/f04cb011451ed13cffeef8c2d960e7e64c34fffab398c815ded3df621cb65a11/IMG_7600_JPG.jpg" /> Adrian Melis. From Havana to Kunsthalle Art Nexus No 85 Volume 11, 2012 text by curator Direlia Lazo <img width="482" height="676" width_o="482" height_o="676" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dbdd6c7db1e5eb954e84b16584aced8989b3b2499d39efae969b1418984e3384/2012-06-ArtNexuskjkj-Adrian-Melis-Direli-2.jpg" data-mid="60202484" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/482/i/dbdd6c7db1e5eb954e84b16584aced8989b3b2499d39efae969b1418984e3384/2012-06-ArtNexuskjkj-Adrian-Melis-Direli-2.jpg" /> FRESTAS Trienal de artes (2016) Catalogue of Triennal of Arts Frestas that took place in São Paulo (2014-2015) 2016 Edited ad pubished by SESC <img width="482" height="676" width_o="482" height_o="676" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6ec37fc976e4410b22bf31758d8309870b2c49e160c6bcd7afa4ff48346dddac/Screen-Shot-2018-10-18-at-14_10_28.png" data-mid="60202499" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/482/i/6ec37fc976e4410b22bf31758d8309870b2c49e160c6bcd7afa4ff48346dddac/Screen-Shot-2018-10-18-at-14_10_28.png" /> ATOPOLIS Catalogue of the exhibition Atopolis at Manège de Sury, organised and supported by the WIELS contemporary art centre, Mons, Belgium, 2015. Published in 2016 by WIELS <img width="482" height="676" width_o="482" height_o="676" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5fe95a4675dea9bb2bb2eee7e1d174310353b61ff70811ce82e82cae9d448b35/IMG_7603_JPG.jpg" data-mid="60202493" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/482/i/5fe95a4675dea9bb2bb2eee7e1d174310353b61ff70811ce82e82cae9d448b35/IMG_7603_JPG.jpg" /> ENGAGEMENTS Collectionner Partage ArCEN, Art Collection European Network Musée sainte-croix-politiers Silviana Editoriale S.p.A 191 pages <img width="482" height="676" width_o="482" height_o="676" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b90c98960bae83cd2217a1df78efe428a54cdbdff6fec824e4945b2022f0d098/IMG_7601_JPG.jpg" data-mid="60202490" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/482/i/b90c98960bae83cd2217a1df78efe428a54cdbdff6fec824e4945b2022f0d098/IMG_7601_JPG.jpg" /> Adrian Melis, The Value of absence Exhibitions catalogue: The value of absence. Kunstahlle Basel, Basel From March the 24th to May the 26th, 2013 <img width="482" height="676" width_o="482" height_o="676" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b7e96ccda615ac351e44d62488049840c8f855a45bd21129dd373ce6b9c760a9/52-1042-2.jpg" data-mid="60202483" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/482/i/b7e96ccda615ac351e44d62488049840c8f855a45bd21129dd373ce6b9c760a9/52-1042-2.jpg" /> ESSE Travail - Labour Catalogue - Magazine of contemporary art. In search of unproductive time Edition: Autum - Fall 2018 <img width="482" height="676" width_o="482" height_o="676" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/276ecb6c80fa2d562fa50170a4efbd2ea1250c45c66a5a1f38424f6e4e76a624/IMG_7604_JPG.jpg" data-mid="60202495" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/482/i/276ecb6c80fa2d562fa50170a4efbd2ea1250c45c66a5a1f38424f6e4e76a624/IMG_7604_JPG.jpg" /> FUERA DE REVOLUCIONES Dos décadas de arte en Cuba 2016 por Marilyn Machado Spanish - English Editorial Almenara Leiden, The Netherlands <img width="460" height="645" width_o="460" height_o="645" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e55ccc0315fafdc255d9d4370419a1c516f2420ad65c87935adbdfcdbfe9b732/may1.jpg" data-mid="60202497" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/460/i/e55ccc0315fafdc255d9d4370419a1c516f2420ad65c87935adbdfcdbfe9b732/may1.jpg" /> Adrian Melis. The Value of Absence Catalogue with works by Adrian Melis until 2013 <img width="207" height="290" width_o="207" height_o="290" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/37f60a85656a6c5fad91127d5ed261d6157daf8a6e86c3123e63f297f6adbb0f/2549-2.jpg" data-mid="60202486" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/207/i/37f60a85656a6c5fad91127d5ed261d6157daf8a6e86c3123e63f297f6adbb0f/2549-2.jpg" /> https://adrianmelis.com/News Sat, 01 Feb 2020 21:19:17 +0000 adrian melis https://adrianmelis.com/News &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;December (2024) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The work “Tales from the Mountaintop”, presented at the Museum of African Art in Belgrade received the 2nd award as part of the 60th October Salon in the exhibition “Hope is a Discipline”. Find out more about the exhibition here <img width="1200" height="800" width_o="1200" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c348be5e2323272796d278f0e00d4a418fd65dff47220927045b952072d6946f/60_os_mau_002_adrian_melis_sosa_price_sa_planinskog_vrha_mau.jpg" data-mid="222857607" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c348be5e2323272796d278f0e00d4a418fd65dff47220927045b952072d6946f/60_os_mau_002_adrian_melis_sosa_price_sa_planinskog_vrha_mau.jpg" /> November (2024) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Presentation at VIA organized by Muda Mathis Basel, Switzerland &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Screening at Cinema Sil Plazpresented by Fadri CadonauNov 21stIlanz, Switzerland October (2024) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;October Salon - Hope is a Discipline curated by Lina Džuverović, Ana Knežević and Emilia EpštajnOct 20th-Dec 1stVideo installations:&nbsp; The Value of Absence and Engagement Rate Formula, ULUS Gallery and Tales from the Mountaintop (2023) at Museum of African Art<img width="2047" height="1365" width_o="2047" height_o="1365" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4984aac5997c65952fb093ff2c49ae46fefe215fb17ebc50885e8b8f9f35fbd7/54136732281_c390dcbaf1_k.jpg" data-mid="222019951" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4984aac5997c65952fb093ff2c49ae46fefe215fb17ebc50885e8b8f9f35fbd7/54136732281_c390dcbaf1_k.jpg" /> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; September (2023) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Who Owns the Truth?Ars Electronica festival, Lentos Museum, Linz, Austria in coolaboration with CIFO Foundation (CIFO Awards, 2022) Sept 6th-10thVideo Installation (premiere): Tales from the Mountaintop (2023) <img width="2760" height="1373" width_o="2760" height_o="1373" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/43f346973f5b9032e382b2552b639460127426b81ebb1d0bffdcc371f50c69db/Screenshot-2023-10-30-at-22.31.12.png" data-mid="196141260" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/43f346973f5b9032e382b2552b639460127426b81ebb1d0bffdcc371f50c69db/Screenshot-2023-10-30-at-22.31.12.png" /><img width="1920" height="1080" width_o="1920" height_o="1080" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5c164372cf0a8953a75f034d68d6ac0f749d0e14627535fb05534e52805769cc/still_MT_Melis_2.jpg" data-mid="188766061" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5c164372cf0a8953a75f034d68d6ac0f749d0e14627535fb05534e52805769cc/still_MT_Melis_2.jpg" /> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;February (2023)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The Impossible MeasureLa Capsula art space, Zürich, SwitzerlandFilm: The Making of Forty Rectangular Pieces for a Floor Construction (2008) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;-&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Out of Office (Critical and creative views on media culture) Curated by Marijn Bril IMPAKT, Utrech, The Netherlands <img width="1150" height="930" width_o="1150" height_o="930" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0989b9aa9d2ff713bc18a707e2dfc7a5a01d14c8fc400b5d3cb30eae523df107/Screenshot-2023-01-30-at-10.51.11.png" data-mid="166617517" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0989b9aa9d2ff713bc18a707e2dfc7a5a01d14c8fc400b5d3cb30eae523df107/Screenshot-2023-01-30-at-10.51.11.png" />&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;November (2022) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Loop Film Festival Adn Galeria, Barcelona, Spain Film: The Smiler (2022)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;-&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Reclamando el eco. Una selección de videos acerca de la música y el mas allá.Comisariado por LOOP BarcelonaMuseo de la Música de Barcelona, Spain&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Film:Glories of a Forgotten Future (2016) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;October (2022)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;8th International Çanakkale BiennialÇanakkale, Turkey&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Film:&nbsp; Surplus Production Line (2014)<img width="712" height="1024" width_o="712" height_o="1024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/496ebda58fcf307d5ec69fff60e81c1059d88dcc50ea7f02a650da7954f776c5/WhatsApp-Image-2022-10-05-at-02.51.49.jpeg" data-mid="156505944" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/712/i/496ebda58fcf307d5ec69fff60e81c1059d88dcc50ea7f02a650da7954f776c5/WhatsApp-Image-2022-10-05-at-02.51.49.jpeg" />&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;-&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Around Video - Fair Hotel Moxy Lille City Sept 30th - October 3rd, 2022&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Film: Repulsion System for Productive Lands (2022) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;September (2022) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;‘No Access’ Video Art Exhibition Viewmaster Projects Foundation place: former underground NATO Headquarters Maastricht, The Neederlands&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Film: The Smiler (2022) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;August (2022)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Artist Talk - The Paradox of Labour organized by Tangent Collective Toronto, Canada date: August 27th, 2022_ &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Online Seminar ‘The Paradox of Art and Labour’ Organized by Berlin Art Institute (BAI) July/August more info &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;July (2022) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Reclamando el eco. Una selección de videos acerca de la música y el mas allá.Comisariado por LOOP Barcelona CCMX - Mexico&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Film:Glories of a Forgotten Future (2016) more info &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; June (2022) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Ghosts of the Machine Polygon Gallery Vancouver, Canada&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Film: Engagement Rate Formula (2019) more info &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;December (2021)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;One song is very much like another, and the boat is always from afarGroup Show, Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou, ChinaDecember 4th, 2021 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;November (2021) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Artist TalkLa Cápsula art space, Zürich, SwitzerlandNovember 25th, 2021 more info &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;March (2021) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Glasgow Film Festival No New Normal: Absurdity of Labour, Monitored &amp; Alt WorldsMarch 13th, 2021&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Films: Engagement Rate Formula (2019) Surplus Production Line (2014) <img width="2327" height="978" width_o="2327" height_o="978" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cef200f0abc7415028ca49462167c4fbca5a542e8a9d4e076d6b297a886f2742/Screenshot-2021-04-26-at-13.41.49.png" data-mid="106490977" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cef200f0abc7415028ca49462167c4fbca5a542e8a9d4e076d6b297a886f2742/Screenshot-2021-04-26-at-13.41.49.png" /> more info __ &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;THE PARADOX OF LABOUR A reader on the work of Adrian Melis (Publication)248 pages supported by Pori Art Museum (Pori, Finland), Adn Galeria (Barcelona) and Publics (Helsinski) <img width="2560" height="1821" width_o="2560" height_o="1821" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/facf89bf3ebf5f2016e99681f44681c9123c76cc5a9ed0628806dd9e0d3dad39/IMG_E4829-scaled.jpg" data-mid="106490204" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/facf89bf3ebf5f2016e99681f44681c9123c76cc5a9ed0628806dd9e0d3dad39/IMG_E4829-scaled.jpg" /> more info __ &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Online Seminar THE PARADOX OF ART AND LABOUR: socio-political practices as forms of artistic expressionfrom March 2nd until March 24th, 2021 <img width="2231" height="1363" width_o="2231" height_o="1363" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f0503e41cd9ca23e92979e7ccd27e843f88c23d12e1ca4156f162a95baed1c48/Screenshot-2021-03-23-at-14.27.19.png" data-mid="106490478" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f0503e41cd9ca23e92979e7ccd27e843f88c23d12e1ca4156f162a95baed1c48/Screenshot-2021-03-23-at-14.27.19.png" /> more info __ &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;November (2020) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;ANESTESIA bi personal by Adrian Melis and Javier CastroCurated by Laura Baigorri Loop Film Festival, 2020 Casa Elizarde Barcelona, Spain <img width="1200" height="900" width_o="1200" height_o="900" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/40ae2eb185f0a1285fd09df9e0a503de1f408af0cbd4fca853b26f68c989d0d1/Em9d423W4AIh14N.jpg" data-mid="106490743" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/40ae2eb185f0a1285fd09df9e0a503de1f408af0cbd4fca853b26f68c989d0d1/Em9d423W4AIh14N.jpg" /> more info __ &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Homeland “Borderlines” Loop Film Festival, 2020 Damer House Gallery, Safia Art Contemporari, LOOP, and CAGE Gallery &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;HOMELAND ‘BORDERLINE’ deals with the idea of boundary and border—a border, a dividing line, or indeed the borderline between friendship and love. Borders are marginal, problematic, and uncertain in the new times of Covid19. The exhibition is composed of two programs: a selection of videos created by Irish artists and a program composed of videos that participated in the LOOP festival 2019 edition. Date: 12 November 2020, 7:00pmAddress: C/ Cortines 23, Bajos, 08003, Barcelona. __ &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;September (2020) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Terra asciutta&nbsp;(Dry Land) Curated by Chiara Pirozzi and Alessandra Troncone In collaboration with Associazione VerginiSanità Opening: Saturday the 26th of September, 11.30 am From September 27 till November 15, 2020 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The third exhibition of Underneath the Arches consists of a site specific intervention by Adrian Melis (Havana, 1985), titled Terra asciutta (Dry Land). Adrian Melis’ artistic research is based on the analysis of specific socio-economic contexts, starting from Cuba, his homeland, and moving to the European countries where he has worked in recent years. Using themes and dynamics related to work, Melis creates mechanisms that exploit initial scarcities as a possible productive force, in some cases creating real production lines that involve third parties in achieving his objectives. With his project titled Terra asciutta, created specifically for Underneath the Arches, the artist analyses and reveals the gap between the “active” and necessary function that the Roman Aqueduct had in the past, and the “passive” and conservative role that the same structure has nowadays. Through a strongly symbolic action, Adrian Melis triggers a new process, capable of restoring vitality and functionality to the place, thus transforming the archaeological heritage into a productive rather than just contemplative site. The artist reactivates the original flow of water by recruiting a workforce in the Vergini-Sanità area and through the experimental use of Foley art techniques. The poetic enterprise, which is even vain in its fleetingness, involves the audience in an immersive experience, both on the occasion of the opening, when a performative action will be underway, and during the exhibition, through an environmental installation conceived site-specifically by the artist. This project is realized with the contribution of Regione Campania, under the Matronage of Fondazione Donnaregina per le arti contemporanee of Naples, and under the patronage of the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples. It is kindly supported by Fondazione Morra and MANN – Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. <img width="1024" height="650" width_o="1024" height_o="650" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/df17ff8df326c5536fc172ed4df95493cd56a773a07721b20c5d3d9dec8776bf/Adrian_Melis_Terra_Asciutta_Teaser_Online_Course_1024_650_web.jpg" data-mid="106490774" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/df17ff8df326c5536fc172ed4df95493cd56a773a07721b20c5d3d9dec8776bf/Adrian_Melis_Terra_Asciutta_Teaser_Online_Course_1024_650_web.jpg" /> article about the performance (italian version): https://www.juorno.it/i-suoni-produttivi-del-ventre-di-napoli-in-terra-asciutta-lopera-di-adriano-melis-alla-sanita/?fbclid=IwAR3D-zc8Jppb2fjj8GkmJY5YDW4XN3Ri-AGqhExxfdENkS5kqeLnvCpI6x4 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;March (2020) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;2768. 23,53. 8. 1958. 57%. 1000 Solo Show at Pori Art Museum Pori, Finland Vernissage: March 21st 20.03.2020 - 30.08.2020 more info &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;“[Creative destruction] is a process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionises the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one — Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1942) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;For artist Adrian Melis and many others living in Cuba in the early 1990s reality was defined by the long shadow cast by Fidel Castro’s glorious revolution and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Shaped by this paradoxical state of existence, Adrian Melis’s practice can be described as a series of inconspicuous interventions, often poetic and surreal, which address systemic political and corporate corruption, political apathy, labour markets, bureaucratic inefficiency, and their effects on the social fabric. He has developed an extensive body of work articulated through videos, photography and installations. Adrian Melis’s upcoming solo exhibition at Pori Art Museum, titled 2768. 23,53. 8. 1958. 57%. 1000, consists of a selection of older and recent works. Adrian Melis’s work and methodology are markedly influenced by Fidel Castro’s schemes for economic growth. Intricate and often absurd, these experiments — orchestrated by a figure that could only be described as a mad scientist — failed disastrously, each time further dismantling the country’s vulnerable economy. Each work in the exhibition can be perceived as fluctuating between states of production and destruction, and as a whole, 2768. 23,53. 8. 1958. 57%. 1000 reveals potential in the creative destruction of grand ideas. <img width="3543" height="2363" width_o="3543" height_o="2363" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/47f35a193940936b0855c00f2607f8d7ba014bb1891bf4e951342fd3116f12e2/IMG_9115.jpg" data-mid="106490879" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/47f35a193940936b0855c00f2607f8d7ba014bb1891bf4e951342fd3116f12e2/IMG_9115.jpg" /> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;January/February (2020) &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Screening of the film Engagement Rate Formula (2019) International Film Festival of Rotterdam (IFFR) Rotterdam, The Netherlands &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Screening of the Films Ovation (2012/19)and The making of forty rectangular pieces for a floor construction (2008) Carleton College, Minessota, USA https://adrianmelis.com/about Sun, 01 Dec 2019 20:04:02 +0000 adrian melis https://adrianmelis.com/about Biography: &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Adrian Melis Sosa (1985. b. Havana, Cuba) is a multidisciplinary artist, based in Cuba and Europe. Between 2005 and 2010, Melis studied printmaking at the University of Arts in Havana. During this period, his artistic practice was shaped by the intensive program ‘Catedra of Behavioural Art’ directed by artist internationally-acclaimed artist Tania Bruguera. He is a former resident of the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten of Amsterdam (2014/2015). He is currently teaching at Berlin Art Institute, Berlin, Germany. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;He has exhibited in several museums and institutions including, among others at Kunsthalle Basel (Basel, Switzerland); Museum of Modern Art of Warsaw (Warsaw, Poland); Wiels Brussels (Belgium); Centre Pompidou (Paris, France); Pinchuk Art Center (Kyiv, Ukraine); Pori Art Museum (Pori, Finland); De Appel Center (Amsterdam, The Netherlands); Queens Museum (NY, USA), Rotterdam Film Festival (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) and the 10th Shanghai Biennale (Shanghai, China). Since 2010 he is represented by ADN Galería (Barcelona, Spain) where his solo exhibitions in 2012 and 2013, were awarded the ‘Art Nou’ Award by the Associationof Galleries Barcelona and the ‘GAC Award’ (MACBA) for Best Exhibition in a Private Gallery, respectively. He exhibited with ADN Galería in several art fairs including ARCO Madrid, LOOP Barcelona, Art Brussels, Artissima, FIAC Officielle and VOLTA10. His work is in private and public collections, including Pori Art Museum (Finland); MAS Santander (Spain); MACBA Barcelona (Spain); Fundación Cerezales Antonino y Cinia (Spain), Collection Patrick Chiche (Belgium); Collection Los Bragales, Jaime R. Sordo (Spain); Collection Alain Servais (Belgium); Collection Lemaître (France); Collection A. de Galbert (France) and Collection Teixeira de Freitas (Portugal). &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;About Melis’s practice: Having being exposed to two completely different socio-economic systems, Europe and Cuba, Melis observes how these two distinct societies generate and function, with all their inherent contradictions. Specifically, he looks at the different concepts of “labour” within both market systems and how ideologies interfere with it, which as a result affect not only the economy but also the social fabric and behaviours. Melis was raised during the collapse of the socialist economic model in Cuba. As a consequence through his practice he began creating absurd production structures utilising art as a tool to create the illusion of productivity in a totally unproductive system. With that conclusion, he realises that in a nonproductive system the concept of being productive is more closely related to art than reality itself. It is in this paradoxical way of understanding Labour where he situates the core of his practice. At the same time, his interest in the relation between Labour and Art is activated through disciplines and stimuli he gathers from: anthropological studies, politics, journalism, behavioural psychology, statistics and economics to give shape to his interpretation of a variety of concepts that include gainful unemployment, absurd bureaucratic and corrupt systems, political silences, the materialization of absence, inmaterial labour, creative destruction and obsessive repetition. Resume: STUDIES &amp; RESIDENCIES 2018 Times Museum Art Residency, Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou, China 2014-2015 Rijksakademie van Beldeende Kunsten, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2005-2010 University of Arts (ISA) Havana, Cuba 2007-2009 Degree from the Chair of Arte Conducta, Havana, Cuba 2000-2004 San Alejandro, Fine Arts Academic, Havana, Cuba SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2020 ‘Terra Asciutta’, curated by Chiara Pirozzi and Alessandra Troncone, Underneath the Arches - Aqueduct of Serino, Naples, Italy ‘2768. 23,53. 8. 1958. 57%. 1000’, Pori Contemporary Art Museum, Pori, Finland 2018 ‘Selective Memory’, Adn Galeria, Barcelona, Spain ‘Land of Plenty’, curated by Tamara Díaz Bringas, El Apartamento gallery, Havana, Cuba 2017 ‘Selected Works’, curated by Melanie Kress, High Line, New York, USA ‘Absolute silence does not exist’, curated by FCAYC and Denise Araouzou, Fundación Cerezales Antonino y Cinia, León, Spain ‘Empty Page’, Kunstlehrstuhl Baden, Baden, Switzerland 2015 ‘No Admittance’, curated by Renata Cervetto, De Appel Arts Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ‘Surplus Production Line’, ADN Galeria, Barcelona, Spain ‘The New Man’, Project Space, Centrum, Berlin, Germany 2013 ‘Time to Relax’, ADN Galeria, Barcelona, Spain ‘The Value of Absence’, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland ‘Dreams Production Plan’, EspaiDos, Terrassa, Spain 2012 ‘STOCK’, Museum of Modern Art (MAS), Santander, Spain ‘New Production Structures’, ADN Galeria, Barcelona, Spain GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2022‘Loop Film Festival’, Adn Galeria, Barcelona, Spain‘Reclamando el eco. Una selección de videos acerca de la música y el mas allá’, comisariado por LOOP Barcelona, Museo de la Música de Barcelona, Spain‘8th International Çanakkale Biennial’,&nbsp;Çanakkale, Turkey ‘Around Video - Fair’,&nbsp;Hotel Moxy Lille City, France‘No Access’ Video Art Exhibition,&nbsp;Viewmaster Projects Foundatio, former underground NATO Headquarters, Maastricht, The Neederlands‘Reclamando el eco. Una selección de videos acerca de la música y el mas allá’, comisariado por LOOP Barcelona, CCMX - Mexico‘Ghosts of the Machine’, Polygon Gallery, Vancouver, Canada 2021‘One song is very much like another, and the boat is always from afa’, Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou, China‘Glasgow Film Festival’, No New Normal: Absurdity of Labour’, Monitored &amp; Alt Worlds, Glasgow, UK 2020 ‘ANESTESIA’, curated by Laura Baigorri, Loop Film Festival Barcelona, Casa Elizarde, Barcelona, Spain ‘Engagement Rate Formula’, Short Films, Rotterdam International Film Festival, (IFFR) Rotterdam, The Netherlands‘Homeland - Borderlines’,&nbsp;Loop Film Festival,&nbsp;Damer House Gallery, Safia Art Contemporari, LOOP, and CAGE Gallery, Barcelona, Spain ‘Site Specific’, Carleton College, Minnesota, USA 2019 ‘Cubical Fever’, Studio Trama34, Barcelona, Spain ‘Pourquoi faire; pourquoi faire’, ETE78, Brussel, Belgium ‘5994 is just a number’, Adn Galeria, Barcelona, Spain ‘Af-Fair #2’, Studio Trama34, Barcelona, Spain ‘The Golden Age of Cuban Video Art, Cuban Cinémathèque québécoise’, Montreal, Canada ‘12 Kaunas Biennale, ‘After Leaving | Before Arriving’, curated by Elisabeth Del Prete, Daniel Milnes, Lýdia Pribišová, Neringa Stoškutė, Alessandra Troncone, Kaunas, Lithuania ‘Survival Kit’, Latvian Center for Contemporary Art, curated by Solvita Krese, Inga Lace and Ángels Miralda, Riga, Latvia ‘Anatomy of Political Melancholy’, curated by Katerina Gregos, Athens Conservatory, Greece ‘I’m always in the other’, curated by Beral Madra, Agah Uğur Collection, Museum Evliyagil, Turkey ‘No habrá nunca una puerta. Estás adentro’, Teixeira de Freitas Collection, curated by Luiza Teixeira, Sala de Arte Santander, Madrid 2018 ‘Otro amanecer en el trópico-Contemporary Cuban artistic practices’, curated by Tereza de Aruda and Abel González, Stiftung Reinbeckhallen Sammlung für Gegenwartskunst, Berlin, Germany ‘Ola Cuba’, Lille, France ‘Chi Utopia mangia le mele’, curated by Adriana Polveroni and Gabriele Tosi, Soprintendenza archeologia, belle arti e paesaggio Verona, Rovigo e Vicenza, Corte Dogana, Verona, Italy ‘Art Souterrain festival 2018’, LABOR IMPROBUS, Montreal, Canada 2017 ‘On/Off, Ciclo de artistas cubanos’, Maison Européenne de la photographie, Paris, France ‘Video Art in Latinoamerica’, Glenn Phillips (GRI) and Elena Shtromberg LAXART, Los Angeles, USA ‘Salon de Arte Contemporaneo’, CDAV, Havana, Cuba ‘Art Weekend program’, curated by Direlia Lazo, Habana, Cuba ‘You&amp;I’, A4 Arts Foundation, Cape Town, South Africa ‘Image du monde laborieux’, Art Digital Center, Paris, France ‘Open Form’, curated by Denise Araouzou, Athens, Greece ‘Post-Peace’, curated by Katia Krupennikova, Nest, The Hague, Netherlands Ciutat de Vacances, Museu de Art Modern I Contemporani de Palma ‘Rumors of Glory’, Basis, Frankfurt, Germany ‘Videocreation in Cuba’, curated by Emma S. Barrientos, Mexican American Cultural Center, Austin TX ‘Post-Peace’, Curated by Katia Krupennikova, Würtembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, Germany ‘First Day of Good Weather, Latin American Art’, Coceived by Despacio, Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf, Germany ‘Belief in the power of Gesture’, Projektraum LS44, Berlin, Germany ‘Valor de Uso’, Centro Wilfredo Lam, curated by Danielo Villegas and Laura de la Colina, Havana, Cuba ‘Post-Peace’, curated by Katia Krupennikova, Kunstverein Stuttgart, Germany ‘Intérims (Art contre emploi)’, La Panaceé, Montpellier, France 2016 ‘Connecting Cuba’, De Balie, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ‘Todas las vidas’, X Bienal Centroamericana, San José, Costa Rica ‘Crisis of Presence’, curated by Luigi Fassi, Pori Art Museum, Pori, Finland ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy: Latin American art in the collections of Mallorca: a review based on Contemporaneity’, curated by Nekane Aramburu, Es Baluard Museu d’ Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma, Palma de Mallorca, Spain ‘Teesside World Exposition of Art and Technology’, MIMA, Middlesbrough, UK ‘No One Belongs Here More Than You’, Despacio, San José, Costa Rica ‘Yes I can!’, curated by Sébastien Planas, Centre d’ art contemporain Walter Benjamin, Perpignan, France ‘MACBA Collection31’, MACBA, Barcelona, Spain. ‘Untitled (two takes on crisis)’, De Appel Arts Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands ‘Groupe Mobile’, curated by Mélanie Bouteloup &amp; Virginie Bobin, VilleVassilieff, Paris, France ‘Kamarado’, co-curated by Zasha Colah, Clark House Initiative, Mumbai &amp; New Delhi, India ‘Hors Pistes: Une autre mouvement des images - L’art de la révolte’, curated by Geraldine Gomez, Centre Pompidou, Málaga, Spain ‘Hors Pistes: Une autre mouvement des images - L’art de la révolte’, curated by Geraldine GomezCentre Pompidou, Paris, France ‘Experiencias 6’, Museo de Arte Moderno y Contemporaneo de Santander, Santander, Spain ‘International Film Festival Rotterdam 2016’, Rotterdam, Netherlands ‘Bread and Roses’, MOMA Museum of Modern Art of Warsaw, Poland 2015 ‘CPH: MARKET’, Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark ‘Creating Common Good’, curated by Robert Punkenhofen in coopertaion with Zaida Trallero and Ursula Maria Probst, Vienna Art Week, Viena, Austria ‘Kamarado’, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands ‘The as-if-principle’, curated by Sabine Winkler, Magazin4–Bregenzer Kunstverein, Bregnez, Austria ‘Tener que Sentir’, Colección Los Bragales Arte Contemporáneo, Gijón, Spain ‘Tedium Vitae: On Mediation’, ADN Platform, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona ‘La distancia adequada’, curated by Alexandra Laudo, Fundació Suñol, Barcelona, Spain ‘Popposition OFF-Fair’ (Servais collection), Brussels, Belgium ‘O que você vê nao o que você percebe’, Emma Thomas Gallery, Sao Paolo, Brasil ‘Atopolis’, Manège de Sury, supported by the WIELS contemporary art centre Mons, Belgium ‘Engagements’, Poitiers Museum, Poitiers, France ‘Everything Was Forever: Until It Was No More’, Akinici Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2014 ‘Uneven Growth: Tactical Urbanisms for Expanding Megacities’, MoMA, New York, USA ‘RijksakademieOPEN’, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ‘Permanent Playfullness’, curated by Camilla Barella, Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brasil ‘10th Shanghai Biennale’, curated by Anselm Franke, Shanghai, China ‘Forms of Distancing’, Steirischer Herbst festival, Graz, Austria ‘Future Generation Art Prize’, Pinchuk Art Center, Kiev, Ukraine ‘In Search of Lost Time’, curated by Ronit Eden, Castrum Peregrini, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ‘Economie Humaine’, HEC École des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, Paris, France ‘Frestes - Trienal de Artes de Brasil’, Sorocaba, Sâo Paulo, Brasil. ‘Barcelona Inspira’, Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc, Barcelona, Spain ‘Ibi et Nunc: Sobre paradójicas democráticas’, curated by Imma Prieto, Fabra i Coats Centre d’Art Contemporary, Barcelona, Spain ‘Activaciones’, Neue Gallerie, curated by Karin Jaschkem Innsbruck, Austria ‘Habitar, Construir, Pensar. Poéticas y perspectivas discursivas en el Videoarte Cubano Contemporáneo (2000-2012)’, Havana, Cuba ‘Espacio de Creación Contemporánea ECCO’, curated by Dennys Matos and Iván de la Torre, Amerighi Cádiz, Spain 2013 ‘Group Show’, D+T Project Gallery, Brussels, Belgium ‘Occupying Building, Thinking: Poetic and Discursive Perspectives on Contemporary Cuban Video Art (1990-2010)’, University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, FL ‘Jetztzeit’, Centre d’Art la Panera, Lleida, Spain ‘In the heart of the country’, The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland EspaiDos, Terrasa, Spain ‘Artlab’, Queens Museum of Art, New York ‘Casa Solleric’, Fundació Palma, Espai d’Art, Palma de Mallorca, Spain 2012 ‘Fuck Off o pá la pinga con todo’, Bienal de la Habana, La Habana, Cuba ‘Arte40 Prize’, selected artists. c arte c, Centro Arte Complutense, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain 2011 ‘Arte Útil’, curated by Tania Bruguera y DEMOCRACIA Off Limits, Madrid, Spain ‘Experience Pommery #9 - La Fabrique sonore’, Domaine Pommery, Reims, France. ‘Auditorium Moscow, A Sketch for a Public Space’, Belie Palaty, Moscow, Russia ‘Somewhere Else’, curated by Direlia Lazo, Galeria Nogueras Blanchard, Barcelona, Spain ‘How To Work (More for) Less’, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland ‘How To Work’, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland ‘Temor y deseo de ser devorados’, Bòlit Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, Girona, Spain 2010 ‘XXXI Bienal de Pontevedra’, Universidad de Vigo, Vigo, Spain ‘Urban Research’, Festival Directors Lounge, Berlin, Germany ‘II Festival Internacional Cine Cubano de Munich’, Munich, Germany ‘Residencias Batiscafo’, Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales, La Habana, Cuba ‘Per Diem’, Betonsalon, Paris, France ‘Atmósfera’, Teatro Bertold Brecht, La Habana, Cuba ‘Factoría Habana 10 bienal de La Habana’, La Factoría, La Habana, Cuba ‘ Evento teórico 10 bienal de La Habana’, I.S.A., La Habana, Cuba ‘Arte, salud y sociedad, 10 bienal de La Habana’, Hospital psiquiátrico de La Habana, La Habana, Cuba ‘Estado de excepción’, 10 bienal de La Habana, Galería Habana, La Habana, Cuba ‘ Octava muestra de nuevos realizadores’, ICAIC, La Habana, Cuba ‘Presentación de audiovisuales’, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Cordoba, Argentina ‘Video experimental y video arte: Artistas de Cuba’, Museo de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia 2008 ‘Curadores go home’, Espacio Aglutinador, La Habana, Cuba ‘Inventarios’, Fundación Ludwig de Cuba, La Habana, Cuba ‘Le Fresnoy Habana Remix’, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, La Habana, Cuba ‘ 7ma Muestra de Jóvenes Realizadores’, La Habana, Cuba ‘El Reparto, galería Ciudades del Mundo’, La Habana, Cuba 2007 ‘Socialist Movements’, Beijing Biennale, Beijing, China ‘Inventarios’, Fundación Ludwing de Cuba, Havana, Cuba ‘Bueno, Bonito y Barato’, CLOSE-UP, Mexico City, Mexico ‘Ni a favor ni en contra’, Facultad de artes y Letras, Havana, Cuba ‘Rescribible’, Arte de Conducta workshop, house of Tania Bruguera, Havana, Cuba 2006 ‘Bueno, Bonito y Barato’, private house, Havana, Cuba ‘Presentation to the 9th Bienal de la Habana’, Arte de Conducta workshop, house of Tania Bruguera, Havana, Cuba ART FAIRS 2022Around Video, Adn Galeria, Hotel Moxy Lille City, Lille, France 2019 LOOP ART FAIR, Adn Galeria, Barcelona, Spain 2018 ARCO, Adn Galeria, Madrid, Spain 2017 ArtBrussels, Adn Galeria, Brussels, Belgium 2016 LOOP ART FAIR, Adn Galeria, Barcelona, Spain ARCO, Adn Galeria, Madrid, Spain 2015 FIAC Officielle Art Fair, Adn Galeria, Paris, France Artissima Art Fair, Adn Galeria, Turín, Italy ArtBrussels, Adn Galeria, Brussels, Belgium ARCO, Adn Galeria, Madrid, Spain 2014 Untitled, Adn Galeria, Miami, USA Artissima Art Fair, ADN Galeria, Turín, Italy ArtRio, Adn Galeria, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil VOLTA10, Adn Galeria, Basel, Switzerland LOOP, Adn Galeria, Barcelona, Spain ARCO, Adn Galeria, Madrid, Spain 2013 ArtBrussels, Adn Galeria, Brussels, Belgium ARCO, Adn Galeria, Madrid, Spain 2012 LOOP, Adn Galeria, Barcelona, Spain SWAB Adn Galeria, Madrid, Spain AWARDS 2013 Art Nou by Abe (Association of Galleries from Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain Award GAC for the best exhibition in 2012 in a private gallery, Barcelona, Spain 2006 Bueno, Bonito y barato project awarded by Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, Spanish Embassy, Cuba &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; COLLECTIONS Pori Art Museum, Finland MAS Santander, Spain MACBA Barcelona, Spain Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej – Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Poland Collection Morra Greco, Naples, Italy Collection Patrik Chiche, Belgium Collection los Bragales, Jaime R. Sordo, Spain Collection Alain Servais, Belgium Collection Lemaître, France Collection Kadist, France Collection A. de Galbert, France Collection Teixeiras da Freitas, Portugal PUBLICATIONS Jerome Sans and Laura Salas Redondo, “Cuba Talks, interview to 28 Cuban artist”, 2019, Rizzoli Editoriale. Nathalie Desmet, “In search of unproductive time”, Esse, Travail/Labour, (Issue 94, Fall), 2018. Ed. Friederike Sigler, Whitechapel: “Documents of Contemporary Art, WORK”. London: Whitechapel Gallery, The MIT Press, 2017. Exhibition Catalogue Ed. Nicolas Bourriaud, “INTERIMS: Art for employment”, Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2017. Exhibition Catalogue “Frestas Trienal de artes 2014-2015”, São Paulo: SESC, 2016. Mailyn Machado, “Fuera de revoluciones. Dos décadas de arte en Cuba”. Leiden: Almenara, 2016 Exhibition Catalogue Eds. Raphael Pirenne, Sebastien Biset, “ATOPOLIS”, Brussels: WIELS, (sic), 2015. Exhibition Catalogue Eds. Dario Cimorelli, “ENGAGEMENTS: Collectionner/ Partage”, Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2015. Exhibition Catalogue Eds. Stefano Collicelli Cagol, Luigi Fassi and Steirischer Herbst, “Forms of Distancing: Representative Politics and the Politics of Representation”, Milan: Mousse Publishing, 2014. Artist Catalogue: Adrian Melis - “The Value of Absence”. Barcelona: ADN Galeria, 2013 Catalogue: Adrian Melis - “Dreams Production Plan by State-Run companies in Cuba”. Barcelona: ADN Galeria, 2013 Article: Direlia Lazo, “Adrian Melis: From Havana to Kunsthalle”, Art Nexus, (No. 85, Volume 11), 2012 https://adrianmelis.com/THE-VALUE-OF-ABSENCE-1 Tue, 03 Dec 2019 07:14:01 +0000 adrian melis https://adrianmelis.com/THE-VALUE-OF-ABSENCE-1 THE VALUE OF ABSENCE Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;(2013)&nbsp; photo credits: Serge Hasenbolher&nbsp; @Kunsthalle Basel 2013 <img width="2982" height="1984" width_o="2982" height_o="1984" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a3cbf0cc9c16559f2d0cd772abcdeda27ef332b07b8531609c371486ed5bee11/Adrian-Melis_01.jpg" data-mid="55886976" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a3cbf0cc9c16559f2d0cd772abcdeda27ef332b07b8531609c371486ed5bee11/Adrian-Melis_01.jpg" /><img width="2982" height="1984" width_o="2982" height_o="1984" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f2be55a25a8a4e02306fccdd266894555b1c5292d95c454ce4f9ecf4a15fd1b0/Adrian-Melis_03.jpg" data-mid="55886895" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f2be55a25a8a4e02306fccdd266894555b1c5292d95c454ce4f9ecf4a15fd1b0/Adrian-Melis_03.jpg" /><img width="2982" height="1984" width_o="2982" height_o="1984" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f2fd248fede0114c3114e204a118a33c54296a005c20c06ca429e3c330b840ab/Adrian_Melis_05.jpg" data-mid="55886978" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f2fd248fede0114c3114e204a118a33c54296a005c20c06ca429e3c330b840ab/Adrian_Melis_05.jpg" /><img width="2982" height="1984" width_o="2982" height_o="1984" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/57caf0c8a34cc6257b50603ae9477aaa744a24634b1e7cad57d7f18140500f48/Adrian_Melis_07.jpg" data-mid="55886913" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/57caf0c8a34cc6257b50603ae9477aaa744a24634b1e7cad57d7f18140500f48/Adrian_Melis_07.jpg" /><img width="2982" height="1984" width_o="2982" height_o="1984" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/083b61f28edfbc3c313153a7160293b3d8a98fb78c0cef3750678247c5e8a812/Adrian_Melis_12.jpg" data-mid="55886979" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/083b61f28edfbc3c313153a7160293b3d8a98fb78c0cef3750678247c5e8a812/Adrian_Melis_12.jpg" /><img width="2982" height="1984" width_o="2982" height_o="1984" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f219b54b89e4637b68c636d033dc347ed3e23325e91fc96619650d5dbf4266a4/Adrian_Melis_13.jpg" data-mid="55886916" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f219b54b89e4637b68c636d033dc347ed3e23325e91fc96619650d5dbf4266a4/Adrian_Melis_13.jpg" /><img width="3728" height="2480" width_o="3728" height_o="2480" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f39a7ba58f324d2a88dae5c0f13439b726ae89c3fa65d54bf68acbbebb7e016f/Adrian_Melis_14.jpg" data-mid="55886980" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f39a7ba58f324d2a88dae5c0f13439b726ae89c3fa65d54bf68acbbebb7e016f/Adrian_Melis_14.jpg" /> https://adrianmelis.com/Surplus-production-line-1 Wed, 11 Dec 2019 21:31:47 +0000 adrian melis https://adrianmelis.com/Surplus-production-line-1 SURPLUS PRODUCTION LINE Adn Galeria, Barcelona, Spain &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;(2014) Photo credits: Roberto Ruiz @Adn Galeria<img width="4000" height="2667" width_o="4000" height_o="2667" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/924465f03cefbd161fb02b7450043b854a9c12b8d4033fa34006208d19795256/10291354_10205901398166600_8106170724047511390_n.jpg" data-mid="56465950" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/924465f03cefbd161fb02b7450043b854a9c12b8d4033fa34006208d19795256/10291354_10205901398166600_8106170724047511390_n.jpg" /> <img width="4000" height="2667" width_o="4000" height_o="2667" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/52fe590b38fc317d8a8e9790cfa7cc8136a4e8c30104e23abf5d3628c73dd6b6/11010627_10205901397526584_382643421842542634_n.jpg" data-mid="56465951" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/52fe590b38fc317d8a8e9790cfa7cc8136a4e8c30104e23abf5d3628c73dd6b6/11010627_10205901397526584_382643421842542634_n.jpg" /> https://adrianmelis.com/time-to-relax-1 Wed, 11 Dec 2019 21:36:01 +0000 adrian melis https://adrianmelis.com/time-to-relax-1 TIME TO RELAX Adn Galeria, Barcelona, Spain&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;(2013) Photo credits: Roberto Ruiz @Adn Galeria <img width="4256" height="2832" width_o="4256" height_o="2832" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/36d88b616e66de63952fd7e5289a3d54863852869f9db92edee44f24df70270d/DSC_6776.jpg" data-mid="56466353" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/36d88b616e66de63952fd7e5289a3d54863852869f9db92edee44f24df70270d/DSC_6776.jpg" /><img width="4256" height="2832" width_o="4256" height_o="2832" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/151874df3bc554ef9675bba084f8bf96673b474adf7da8311b492e395cdff5dc/DSC_6863.jpg" data-mid="56466354" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/151874df3bc554ef9675bba084f8bf96673b474adf7da8311b492e395cdff5dc/DSC_6863.jpg" /><img width="4256" height="2832" width_o="4256" height_o="2832" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/425e71c954c2e35780897d3da8bcf44f0bbc2507c4b60b85f802856e016be9c8/DSC_6894.jpg" data-mid="56466355" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/425e71c954c2e35780897d3da8bcf44f0bbc2507c4b60b85f802856e016be9c8/DSC_6894.jpg" /> https://adrianmelis.com/2768-23-53-8-1958-57-1000 Tue, 03 Dec 2019 17:50:17 +0000 adrian melis https://adrianmelis.com/2768-23-53-8-1958-57-1000 2768. 23,53. 8. 1958. 57%. 1000. Pori Art Museum, Finland &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;(2013) Photo credits: Erkki Valli-Jaakola @Pori Art Museum <img width="3543" height="2363" width_o="3543" height_o="2363" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/47f35a193940936b0855c00f2607f8d7ba014bb1891bf4e951342fd3116f12e2/IMG_9115.jpg" data-mid="68535441" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/47f35a193940936b0855c00f2607f8d7ba014bb1891bf4e951342fd3116f12e2/IMG_9115.jpg" /><img width="3543" height="2244" width_o="3543" height_o="2244" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1fa52988ffebd1af81b36c3a4d46e64a31aeb9da29cc50dc4dec6a997aef6850/_H3A3977.jpg" data-mid="68535434" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1fa52988ffebd1af81b36c3a4d46e64a31aeb9da29cc50dc4dec6a997aef6850/_H3A3977.jpg" /><img width="3543" height="2362" width_o="3543" height_o="2362" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6de2822376bc0f09b4d52735525298ac3d14ccd300f9bfdfd9a9d828a03d3a8b/IMG_9046.jpg" data-mid="68535437" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6de2822376bc0f09b4d52735525298ac3d14ccd300f9bfdfd9a9d828a03d3a8b/IMG_9046.jpg" /><img width="3543" height="2362" width_o="3543" height_o="2362" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d2333eecde010424c30df07a3378c8ba1559151b66c4f6d65ea07495816c34a0/IMG_9146.jpg" data-mid="68535440" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d2333eecde010424c30df07a3378c8ba1559151b66c4f6d65ea07495816c34a0/IMG_9146.jpg" /><img width="3543" height="2362" width_o="3543" height_o="2362" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/247f7eadcf71c184a948a04454353138d471c3edf05c00839c7c3715a1849cc3/_H3A3997.jpg" data-mid="68535435" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/247f7eadcf71c184a948a04454353138d471c3edf05c00839c7c3715a1849cc3/_H3A3997.jpg" /><img width="3543" height="2362" width_o="3543" height_o="2362" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d811311672e41fad7cad91d219cdaa5fd9856654d3cae7274535643ece0c1908/_H3A4213.jpg" data-mid="68535436" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d811311672e41fad7cad91d219cdaa5fd9856654d3cae7274535643ece0c1908/_H3A4213.jpg" /> https://adrianmelis.com/new-production-structures Fri, 20 Mar 2020 20:47:34 +0000 adrian melis https://adrianmelis.com/new-production-structures NEW PRODUCTION STRUCTURES Adn Galeria, Barcelona, Spain&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;(2012) Photo credits: Roberto Ruiz @Adn Galeria<img width="4256" height="2832" width_o="4256" height_o="2832" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b092e47478364ad8bd84cf52cbd4c5a5297890ac2a6c95757f4c3fbd128b707e/DSC_8851-copy.jpg" data-mid="64106516" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b092e47478364ad8bd84cf52cbd4c5a5297890ac2a6c95757f4c3fbd128b707e/DSC_8851-copy.jpg" /><img width="4256" height="2832" width_o="4256" height_o="2832" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c15001b7a9adfb96093f6697b7dd457d5f749ff804943877061557a568e6acfb/DSC_8795.jpg" data-mid="64106511" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c15001b7a9adfb96093f6697b7dd457d5f749ff804943877061557a568e6acfb/DSC_8795.jpg" /><img width="4256" height="2832" width_o="4256" height_o="2832" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d99680ac70f42c2e02383b28a5f64834929252e65b45c6fb172597e0c3a7e96c/DSC_9006.jpg" data-mid="64106512" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d99680ac70f42c2e02383b28a5f64834929252e65b45c6fb172597e0c3a7e96c/DSC_9006.jpg" /><img width="4256" height="2832" width_o="4256" height_o="2832" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/53c1aa16b4a4e896c45625a38c0be8c14a9cfb4a584a4945209960dbe1cbf8b5/DSC_9115.jpg" data-mid="64106513" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/53c1aa16b4a4e896c45625a38c0be8c14a9cfb4a584a4945209960dbe1cbf8b5/DSC_9115.jpg" /><img width="4256" height="2832" width_o="4256" height_o="2832" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4254e548ab36f1a860fe4f5311179dfb58a764e7d4b3d2f7d9d1e8250003a284/DSC_9376.jpg" data-mid="64106515" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4254e548ab36f1a860fe4f5311179dfb58a764e7d4b3d2f7d9d1e8250003a284/DSC_9376.jpg" /> https://adrianmelis.com/Selective-Memory Tue, 03 Dec 2019 18:10:31 +0000 adrian melis https://adrianmelis.com/Selective-Memory SELECTIVE MEMORY Adn Galeria, Barcelona, Spain&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;(2018) Photo credits: Roberto Ruiz @Adn Galeria <img width="1766" height="1179" width_o="1766" height_o="1179" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/116fd78d77716b1d93a2da8eaebb69e06792e8e3d1cef31642fef060f08d9101/DSC_3849.jpg" data-mid="55920644" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/116fd78d77716b1d93a2da8eaebb69e06792e8e3d1cef31642fef060f08d9101/DSC_3849.jpg" /><img width="1766" height="1179" width_o="1766" height_o="1179" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a206eff6b72e334b20f627bf9677e3a7d43523b3143315aefbaf48331a8e56cb/DSC_3874.jpg" data-mid="55920647" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a206eff6b72e334b20f627bf9677e3a7d43523b3143315aefbaf48331a8e56cb/DSC_3874.jpg" /><img width="1766" height="1179" width_o="1766" height_o="1179" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cd1c27d173c5f4d4090ece127b474056a54d738ff17680bd0dea4feb97b7c44a/DSC_4044.jpg" data-mid="55920652" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cd1c27d173c5f4d4090ece127b474056a54d738ff17680bd0dea4feb97b7c44a/DSC_4044.jpg" /><img width="1766" height="1179" width_o="1766" height_o="1179" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e48bd117848011a0d1c155bd83d46436825cf2c679b679f616f5f5e6720e1e1e/DSC_3931.jpg" data-mid="55920648" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e48bd117848011a0d1c155bd83d46436825cf2c679b679f616f5f5e6720e1e1e/DSC_3931.jpg" /><img width="1766" height="1179" width_o="1766" height_o="1179" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2a0e55bf2b10acfc5e4708317020f965e4bbf289df070e26fe9b204aaed31b59/DSC_3949.jpg" data-mid="55920649" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2a0e55bf2b10acfc5e4708317020f965e4bbf289df070e26fe9b204aaed31b59/DSC_3949.jpg" /><img width="1766" height="1179" width_o="1766" height_o="1179" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/51df87494e340df8f9f021916cfbc5d56fcab4ce975a7b6717db3e5a11ff18c3/DSC_4031.jpg" data-mid="55920651" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/51df87494e340df8f9f021916cfbc5d56fcab4ce975a7b6717db3e5a11ff18c3/DSC_4031.jpg" /><img width="1766" height="1179" width_o="1766" height_o="1179" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0e78a552d1973e5f9903ab3414174e04f91b9ae1ff85e235f79be9f8464d5091/DSC_4058.jpg" data-mid="55920653" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0e78a552d1973e5f9903ab3414174e04f91b9ae1ff85e235f79be9f8464d5091/DSC_4058.jpg" /><img width="1766" height="1179" width_o="1766" height_o="1179" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e8d3bd70b3fbf19e44925f8bcca870498d742d394f43757fa3af866644a1a363/DSC_4094.jpg" data-mid="55920654" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e8d3bd70b3fbf19e44925f8bcca870498d742d394f43757fa3af866644a1a363/DSC_4094.jpg" />