Mario de Vega
[MX]
The intervention, "Should I Stay or Should I Go," makes use of a civil protection device installed in the exhibition space. The device/alarm is triggered once per day by an algorithm, which uses the opening hours of the exhibition as a variable. The artist, the curatorial team, and the management of the exhibition space are not able to know when the alarm will be activated. The work thus creates an imposed semantic reference and opening questions regarded the value of simulation, truth, fear, and the understanding of sound as
an imposition of force.
Due to the acoustic intensity of the signal, the visitor and the guards of the exhibition are required
to use ear protections during the exhibition running time.
Mario de Vega is a Mexico City-born experimental sound artist. His works include site-specific interventions and experiments in psychoacoustics that frequently push the limits of audio perception. He uses challenging frequencies said to induce visceral reactions in the audience, and sound as a tool to confront contemporary issues around and personal experiences of vulnerability.
Working in the fields of sound and conceptual visual arts since 1999, and Berlin-based since 2008, de Vega uses the exhibition space as a springboard to reflect on the realities outside of the architectural environment. Using large-scale pyrotechnics and aggressive high/low frequencies, his aims at agitation are an intrinsic part of the performative experience. A frequent focus on the corruption and violence in Mexico, de Vega also esteems the process, including negotiations leading to the performance, as an important part of his own research.
Installation locations have included significant Baroque churches, museum courtyards, and functioning sewage systems, while gunpowder continues to be a frequent ally.
De Vega’s studies in Mexico City included linguistics, Stage Design, and Sound for Theater, as well as the Sound Studies Masters Program at Berlin’s UDK. The artist continues to exhibit and perform across Europe, Mexico, North America, South Africa, India, Russia, and Japan.
