Amalia Pica

Participant

Yellow lighting spray on the front of Casa de la Independencia (Independence House) performed in October 2002. It lasted for 40 minutes, starting and finishing at the ringing of a bell pressed by the artist dressed in a white school pinafore.

Photography of Historical House. Casa de Tucumán (a historical building) as represented in school texts and handbooks.

School Period Motivations underlying this project (...)It is remarkable to notice the distance between certain historical monuments and their didactic representation. I remember that, when I first saw our Chapter House, I failed to recognize it: it was so lacking in a number of ways! I also found it impossible to see the yolk-yellow colour that, supposedly, is characteristic of Casa de Tucumán, in some photograph that I happened to be shown. To me, the iconic image is perhaps stronger than the anecdotic narration of the May revolution, of the declaration of independence; at least, from what I was told at school. (...) (The purpose of my project is ) to re-insert, in their real scenario (Tucumán, Historical House) the "little house" of the school text-books. To turn this white house into the yellow one of the stories, to turn it into that house that, to me , was more real than the existing building. Methodology To dye the façade of the Historical House school-yellow by means of a light-bath using 18 par one thousand and five mercury floodlights with yellow gel, in an action that seeks both to re-insert the little house we learnt about and to stage pedagogic action. At any given time, to open a 40 minute School Period, limited by the ringing of two bells: one at the beginning, the other at the end. I myself, wearing a white school apron, will sound the bells.

 

Amalia Pica Born in Neuquén in 1978, lives and works in Buenos Aires. She is "Profesora Nacional de Escultura"graduated from ENBAPP and is attending courses at SEU, IUNA. She is currently a teaching assistant at OTAV-Engraving at IUNA and teaches visual arts at two elementary schools. She attends Tulio de Sagástizabal's clinic workshop and has gone through several courses and seminars, such as Thesis and Project Writing for Artists run by Licentiates Alicia Romero and Marcelo Giménez in 2002. She has participated in collective exhibitions and has staged actions, performances and interventions in public spaces. e-mail amaliapica@hotmail.com