Just give me a bit more time to finish my letter
Art Residency at Basement 6 , Shanghai, 2017
[ENG] Based on the expectation of a letter that never arrives, Maria P. Vila created Just give me a bit more time to finish my letter. This work of art approaches the wait as a dramatic action, so as to touch upon the depths of abandonment, and invites the spectator to face the transcendental act of saying Goodbye.
[ESP] A partir de la expectativa generada por una carta que no llega,Maria P. Vila levanta Just give me a bit more time to finish my letter.La obra toma la espera como acción dramática para ahondar en el tema del abandono, e invita al espectador a enfrentarse al trascendental acto de decir Adiós.
Posterior a una inesperada separación amorosa y bajo la necesidad de ordenar las confusas razones del sujeto amado (A), María Luisa inicia un proceso de contención donde durante 30 días se auto-remite una carta de despedida que A. ha prometido pero dilatado enviar. En esta expone distintas explicaciones de la repentina ausencia de un otro que sólo vemos representado por las elucubraciones de la autora, quien a través de cada documento va revisando los hitos universales del discurso amoroso y planteando la atemporalidad de la problemática de pareja.
Cuando finalmente A. despacha la ansiada carta, la artista decide no leerla. Es así como abre el proceso al público, invitándolo a ser anónimo receptor de una correspondencia que no le pertenece y que además ha sido convocado a contestar. De este modo Maria P. Vila nuevamente comparte la autoría de la pieza al espectador, ofreciéndole participación activa en esta y comprometiéndose a enviar por correo cada una de las réplicas que han sido escritas, en contestación a la carta del sujeto amado, a la residencia de este en Nueva York.
Some of the 30 letters written by Maria Luisa pretending to be A’s response
After an unexpected romantic separation, and due to the need to organize the confusing reasons of the loved one (A.), Maria Luisa initiates a process of contention for 30 days, during which she sends herself a goodbye letter that A. had promised to send, but was not doing so. In this letter, she exposes several different explanations for the sudden absence of the lover, who we can only see as a reflection of the author’s conjectures. Through each letter, she visits several milestones of the universal discourse of love, and suggests a sense of timelessness in romantic conflict.
When A. finally sends the long awaited letter, the artist decides not to read it. This is how she opens the process to her audience, inviting them to be anonymous receptors of a letter that is not theirs, but to which they are requested to respond. Thus, Maria P. Vila shares once more the authorship of the work of art with its spectators, offering opportunities for active participation as well as promising to send each of the responses to the lover’s letter by mail to his address in New York.
Some of the 80 letters that the participants sent to A. Many of the letters were not opened by the recipient
Lugar/ Venue : Basement 6, Shanghai
Materiales/ Materials: Papel de arroz, tinta china, Hilo elastico dorado, ganchos, sobres /
Tiempo de exposición: 1 semana
Institutions associated to this project: AL Works Shanghai, Basement 6, Cultural Consulate of Chile in Shanghai
