Hector Canonge

The video is the edited documentation of the Performance Art project, DESOLACIÓN (Bleakness), presented in the solo exhibition at Alliance Française in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The main title, DESOLACIÓN, is in Spanish, and it is closely related to a state of darkness or shadows, a state of abandonment or isolation. The performance explores the connections and disconnection of people with nature and the challenges to maintain traditions and cultural heritage.

Hector Canonge / DESOLACIÓN (Bleakness) / 2017 / Bolivia / 10 min.

HECTOR CANONGE is an American interdisciplinary artist, curator, cultural producer, and educator. Born in Argentina, Canonge spent his childhood in Bolivia, South America, and grew up in the United States where he studied Comparative Literature, Cinema, and New Media Arts. His work incorporates various forms of artistic expression: Performance Art, Dance, Multimedia Production, Installation, and Social Practice to treat notions related to constructions of identity, gender roles, and the politics of migration. Through his investigation of somatic expression, he has developed a corporeal theory for the practice of Performance Art which has been presented in workshops and conferences around the world. Challenging the white box settings of a gallery or a museum, or intervening directly in public spaces, his performances mediate movement, endurance, and ritualistic processes. Some of his actions and carefully choreographed performances involve collaborating with other artists and interacting with audiences. His performance art projects, films and media installations have been presented and exhibited in the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia.
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In my interdisciplinary work I explore notions of geographic transformation(s) where familiar and unknown territories may induce corporeal migrations, psychological states, somatic displacements and territorial relocations. My Performance Art work centers around the (re)construction of memory, migration politics, identity and gender. My early memories of life in South America are references when I am confronted with sensorial experiences that take me back to Argentina, where I was born, and Bolivia, where I lived as a child. I investigate the constant transformation of migrant communities in urban-spheres and how the public realm is also affected by the presence of new peoples and cultures. Through performance art, public interventions, and social engagement with various communities in New York and in other cities where I had the opportunity to work in, I have been able to produce projects whose messages touch on the human condition. For this particular occasion, I have selected works that relate to the premise of the festival, and to my own aesthetics and considerations of light and darkness.