Marcos Figueroa
(artist and teacher)
What is, in your
opinion, a professional artist?
If I had a bit more time, it
would be convenient to revise a little history about the so-called
“free arts” and the concepts of profession and professionalism.
Of course, the concept of artist has had and has several connotations
depending on the time in question and where we place ourselves
on the cultural map (in the west, north, south, in the east, in
the centres, peripheries, etc). Once, these statements are made,
I think what we currently call a professional of any activity
(in the broad sense of the term) is that individual who lives
on a certain job, i.e., that sets his/her trade in a particular
working circle and gets an amount of money as fees, wages, etc,
in exchange.
In the artistic field, this functions by displacement but with
the peculiarities of the very same concept of “artistic field”
and the “autonomy” of art in relation to other fields.
In the peripheral productive centres where there is no art market
(or else they are developing), the acquisition of symbolic assets
is not yet developed, the concept “professional’ is
more flexible and comprises or includes all those producers that
offer a certain productive continuity and a projection that goes
beyond the economic one.
This problem is also present asymmetrically when comparing artistic
producers of different arts, e.g. theatre and visual arts. And
within the performing arts: the television, cinema and theatre
actors.
In Argentina, actors usually find the way to self-subsidise or
sponsor their productions developing other activities, sometimes
directly related with the artistic production and in many other
cases doing activities which have nothing to do with art. In fact,
this issue gives rise to much more talking, if you are interested,
we can expand.
What's the relation between art and money in your work?
I have not sold anything for
a long time. I, personally, live on teaching at university and
on doing research in arts theory.
How do you resolve the conditions of visibility of your work in
the context you work in?
I do not understand the question: whether you mean, how I
set up my work... lights, walls, etc. Or, how I spread my work...
through shows and catalogues that I hand in under certain criteria.
How would you define cultural tourism?
It is the thing that large centres know to do quite well or,
small countries like Cuba, that do so with a lot of dignity.
How would you define culture shock?
I do not know, in these wild latitudes, I have never heard
of something like that. If you expand, I will tell you, ok?
What's the relationship between control and chance in your work?
Both concepts are rather absolute (both imply working mechanisms).
I am much more interested in thinking that my processes nourish
on both instances and in articulated ways. There are always things
that I control and I give way to be surprised and questioned by
the things that I am doing. It is a two-way road, between chance
(what comes up, what is planned and what suddenly happens) and
control mechanisms ( i.e. adjustment, selection criteria and processes,
and summary).
How important is it for you to be able to talk about your work?
It is very important.
In the provinces it is more common to talk about the things that
happen to us, what we do and how we do it. Some artists from Spain
made me aware of this. However, the systematised thinking and
theorising of our processes is on the early stages since it started
to occur in the 90’s and has intensified ever since.
Teaching, in my particular case, has been very important, because
I had to learn what was going on with me so as to understand what
happens or could possibly happen to others. That is to say, I
had to stop using the models of the “black box” to use
the “white box” to transfer and accompany those processes
that have always been different to mine. Besides, this question
reminds me of a friend poet who died, Mario Romero. When he came
back to Argentina after been exiled, he told me how important
it was to have a bosom friend to put up with the exile, I mean
a buddy to talk to about your work and even discuss the work.
Of course, this is necessary, our making is a social matter. “The
other party” is basic. To a certain extent, you get a kind
of measurement of what you are doing when you have somebody whom
to share it with. A kind of approval. Fortunately, I have several
“bosom friends” that helped me light up those dark spots.
In other words, to put your work into words places you in another
place. And this is very important because, basically, we work
with ideas.
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