Los Túneles de BoloniaMaquetas en el arte de la primera década del siglo XXI

Abstract

The article speaks about the presence of models in the artistic scene during the first decade of this century and highlights their non-functional character in contrast with the ones commonly used in other fields such as engineering or architecture. It looks at the formal and conceptual aspects introduced into the viewer´s experience by these objects, which necessarily leads us to refer to Bachelard´s Poetic of Space among other writings. In this sense, two basic types of artistic models are described regarding the materials used and their finish, both types illustrated with examples of artworks made by Spanish and foreign artists- it is the case of Isidro Blasco, Siah Armajani, and, particularly, James Casebere. We are especially interested in artists who also photograph their models and present the images as final simulacra of multiple, conjoined realities. Casebere is a good exponent of this practice along with other creators such as Thomas Demand, Valentín Vallhonrat and Alexandra Ranner. All of them share the same interest on the perverse construction of `artifices´ with certain degrees of reality, and the idea of this reality as a toy and the toy as a reality.