I write about an exhibition that will not exist, at least in the conventional short-term format. The exhibition is about a Chilean car that no longer exists, the first and last (it is said that the original production consisted of 600 to 1200 units), the dream of the National industry of a car for the people. That is what this short text could talk about, that which will soon disappear, the notion of a Chilean project; but it could't be brief.
Nowadays, many of the projects and things we have or have wanted until a couple of months ago are useless or will soon be. The art system is not immune to these times. It tries to articulate itself without its audience's direct experience, fetishes and events. In the struggle to not disappear, the screen, tele-art. and other digitally mediated contents are the norm.
This non-exhibition by Alfredo Da Venezia in Espacio O deals with the Yagán, the first Chilean (rather mixed)-made car. Its chassis was French and half of its production parts were Chilean, a pioneering alliance to consolidate the foundations of the local industry. But it couldn't overcome the karma of its name, already present in it's paper-drawn phase, on the metal folds and the pop rivet; all of it carried the weight of disappearance.
This revisit to the Yagán involved a virtual archaeology from scattered fragments in web testimonies and lost blogs, dominated by myth and distorted stories. This distortion is analogous to the material distortion of the Yagán. No Yagán was the same as another. It's craftability nullened its systematization, its seriality. The following question would be, Which Yagan is the one we see?
The Delaunay Yagán rises from planimetry and digital projection. Today it is presented in its striped version, paying tribute to another great forgotten, the French artist Sonia Delaunay. The author intends to pay off historical debts, mainly a debt of memory, proposing limited production, even of its parts separately at scale. However, the greatest merit here, is the ultimate overcoming of the previous archaic-analog proletarian phase by the automaton rumble of home 3D printing.
A cycle closes, one of moral triumphs. This is for the Antus and the Fasats that were left behind on the way here.
Carlos Silva