NOWs: Mea Culpa by Santiago Sierra

I confess …, that things do not look bright in early 2017. We witness the proliferation of autocratic systems, rising nationalism and populism, walled in nation states, and unfettered capitalism in daily disbelief. With the world seemingly falling apart to the tune of barking hate speech and fake news there are manifold suggestions who or what is to blame for the distress. Yet salvation is not in sight. Just now, in times of uncertainty, the idea of a higher power granting absolution to the faithful appears all the more seductive. With the Confiteor of the Catholic Church this belief has been collectively practiced during the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation for centuries. If nowadays – as frequently elaborated – art is indeed our new religion, can quasi-messianic artists save their followers or bear the sins of our world? Certainly not. Could, however, the idea of penance and confession of guilt as expressed in „Mea Culpa“ apply to artists, such as Santiago Sierra, thus striving for absolution by conceding to have „greatly sinned“ in thoughts, words and deeds? Unthinkable! It would reduce his works to absurdity. If we expect art to assume a rather social than ornamental function in our societies it is indispensable that artistic practice is pure and occasionally transgressive. With his conceptual pieces, many of them actions and interventions which directly engage with our reality, Sierra has exercised this idea for almost three decades. He exposed and criticized the social and political conditions of modern society along with their respective power structures, be it nation states and border-regimes, globalized capitalism, the art world itself or the institution of the church. Interventions like the projection of a gigantic „NO“ above the pope during a pontifical mass in Madrid dispel any suspicion of religiosity. Yet, the topos of imposed guilt, for the victim an „internalized form of punishment“ (Interviews, Martinez, 2003, p.66), appears frequently in Sierra‘s oeuvre who at the same time adopts and criticizes its religious origin: It can be found in the use of the capirote (the pointed conical hat used by religious brotherhoods to publicly expose criminals confessing their sins) in pieces such as „The Anarchists“, who were paid to listen to the pope‘s Christmas address, as well as in various performances of – in Sierra‘s understanding – workers like veterans or prostitutes silently facing the corners or walls of exhibition spaces. In these intense and ambiguous performances, Sierra exploits the hired unemployed, prostitutes or immigrants carrying out pointless work, while at the same time revealing their situation and giving them a voice to be heard. Their visual language, their complex and powerful symbolism as well as the anchoring in peoples reality provides them with a rare emotional impact. Sierra bluntly unveils a system we cannot escape, a system which he self-evidently forms part of. His performances can be understood as an inherent call for action or for civil disobedience, but they are also the works he – as the bearer of bad news – has been most criticized for. As the messenger of the bleak truth of our times Sierra frequently has been accused of cynicism. He is right to recognize a certain hypocrisy of the elitist art world in this accusation as he explains: „To me it seems much more ethical, much clearer, to reveal your own participation in a work, what your role is, than to hide it. I could have called „250 cm Line Tattooed on 6 Paid People“ „Boys from Havana“. That would have been cynical, indeed.“ (Interviews, p. 234) Consequently, the titles of Sierra‘s pieces are highly descriptive and carefully avoid any misinterpretation or poetic ambition, providing merely the most prosaic and necessary information on the actions: „Container in Space“, „300 Tons“, „The Punished“, „3.000 holes of 180 x 50 x 50 cm each“, „Black Flag“ and so on. It therefore was a curatorial decision and joined effort to convince Sierra to name the exhibition „Mea Culpa“ which in many ways contradicts his artistic practice. Nevertheless, this provocation has proven to be fruitful, to rise critical disbelief and foster discussions before the show even opened. It picks one of the many possible perspectives on Sierra‘s practice, expands the view on it beyond the obvious, and delivers first questions approaching his works: Why do the veterans deserve to be standing facing a corner if they are only small cogs in the big machinery of wars and why did they agree to participate in the first place? Are junkies and prostitutes to be condemned for their situation? Can we distinguish between our personal guilt as individuals and the guilt of the power-structures we cannot escape? Does the Catholic Church still define our moral values and the definition of guilt? Is Sierra to be blamed to benefit from our capitalist reality or to be hailed to make it comprehensible? Is our world ruled by means of imposing guilt through punishment and work? Should art be allowed to cause inconvenient irritations in public life such as causing a traffic jam on a highway in Mexico City by blocking it with a truck‘s trailer? Obviously, there are no easy or quick answers to these questions. The topic of guilt is as complex as Sierra‘s whole oeuvre. Therefore the exhibition encourages different readings rather than giving definite answers. It offers a dialogue instead of an imposed teaching ex cathedra. Hence, this catalogue attempts to personalize some of the pieces instead of reproducing analytical texts. It contains excerpts from interviews given by Sierra within the last fifteen years as well as specifically conducted conversations with protagonists involved or confronted with his works. Exemplarily, they add various individual perspectives on the artist‘s practice. This approach equally can be found in the exhibition itself in the form of Sierra‘s video „20 workers in a ship‘s hold“: It features a participant of said action commenting on it meandering between accusation and contentment to emerge from invisibility. We catch one glimpse of a multi-perspective reality which is far from being exhaustive. It is fundamental that Sierra does not confine himself to only criticize or observe power structures. On the contrary: He interferes with these systems beyond the role of a mere spectator and renders them visible for us to not only theoretically understand but to comprehend their ramifications and our own role therein. There aren‘t many artworks to be found in today‘s museums which bear the immediate potential to leave the spectator quivering with emotion. This rare quality of Sierra‘s pieces arises from their ability to systematically overcome the protected art space engaging with a less predictable reality. Subsequently, he employs a broad range of artistic strategies and techniques to capture fractions of these actions in order to transfer them to the exhibition space: they emerge in a broad variety of media from photo and video to sculpture, installation and performance oscillating between the utmost minimalist form and the most graphic depiction. It therefore is crucial to be aware that the exhibition gathers reflections or relics of the original happenings rather than objects which deliberately have been conceived to compose an artwork. They capture unadorned fragments without striving for perfection. Yet, they all share the potential to unfold and point to the profound conversation Sierra has with the world. The currentness and foresight of Sierra‘s work from the past three decades is almost disturbing, thus makes it more relevant than ever. None of the early actions which will be reactivated in the course of „Mea Culpa“ has lost its relevance or original potential. At the same time the exhibition took advantage of its rather tight planning schedule. It could be compiled taking into account recent political issues and events. After first considerations to focus exclusively on the less known, more subtle and minimalist – but nonetheless powerful – pieces in Sierra‘s oeuvre it quickly became clear that in times of political turmoil and „alternative facts“, the opposite would be desirable. The exhibition therefore evolved towards bringing together works such as „Los Encargados“, which aims at the role – maybe guilt – of political leaders and is described by Sierra as an attempt „to strike back at the propaganda machinery that we’ve been enduring as long as we can remember. It’s a rematch; it’s counter-propaganda.“ (Interviews, Jarque, 2013, 243) After all the exhibition „Mea Culpa“ forms a comprehensive overview of Sierra‘s work and his pieces which unveil the social and political conditions of our modern society. They stimulate their contemplation and foster a discourse. By no means are they finger-pointing accusations nor confessions of guilt. Instead they point beyond the art world to a complex reality. Through their ambiguity between a seemingly simple appearance and a complex symbolism Sierra‘s works invite a dialogue. They embody his conversation with the world. Moreover, they teach us that nobody can escape the system of exploitation. So, yes, Sierra is just as guilty as each and everyone of us. We, „the world of culture, are on the winning team, we are, surprise, the exploiters.“, as Sierra states. Art might help us to internalize this thought, maybe even take action. There is no need to confess the outspoken and there is no reason for art to strive for absolution. Text by Lutz Henke