Eduardo Navarro, Timeless Alex, 2015. Performance and installation; duration and dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist
Titled Timeless Alex (2015), Eduardo Navarro’s newly commissioned work for the 2015 Triennial: “Surround Audience” departs from the conditions of experience determined by the human body to consider the phenomenological position of the turtle. The artist became intrigued by turtles’ perception of time—accentuated by the case of Lonesome George, the last living Pinta Island tortoise discovered in the Galápagos in 1971—and how self-awareness of their own longevity might affect cognition. The work is informed by the writings of Temple Grandin, a writer and autism activist who posited that animals think in pictures and understand life through constant sensorial stimulation generated by shadows, sounds, and colors. Without the ability to form language-dependent abstract concepts about these sensations, animals move through the world without a concept of time. In the exhibition, a sculptural model of a Galápagos tortoise is featured alongside a leather skin and face mask. At this two-hour event, the artist will activate the turtle by donning the sculpture and moving at slow speeds, meditating inside the shell in an attempt to move slower than language and reach a timeless state of mind.
Lead Support provided by the “Friends of the 2015 Generational Triennial”
Chair:
Hank Latner
Co-Chairs:
Shelley Fox Aarons, Lonti Ebers, Ken Kuchin, and Toby Devan Lewis
Friends of the Generational Triennial:
Andrea Rosen Gallery
Lisa and David Barse
Alexandra Bowes and Stephen Williamson
James Keith Brown and Eric Diefenbach
Lisa Fayne Cohen and James Cohen
Sandra and Leo DelZotto
Marisa and David Droga
The John David and Signy Eaton Foundation
Rebecca and Martin Eisenberg
Charlotte Feng Ford
Andrea Glimcher
Tina Kim and Jae Chung
Ahmet Kocabıyık
Mihail Lari and Scott Murray
Marsy Mittlemann
Catriona and Simon Mordant
Mario Palumbo and Stefan Gargiulo
Regen Projects
Lisa Roumell and Mark Rosenthal
Sprüth Magers
Jerome L. and Ellen Stern
Courtney Finch Taylor
Laurie and David Wolfert
“Surround Audience” is made possible by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Foundation.
Artist commissions are generously supported by the Neeson / Edlis Artist Commissions Fund.
Additional support is provided by Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte, the International Leadership Council of the New Museum, and Carol and Arthur Goldberg. The accompanying publications were made possible, in part, by the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation and the J. McSweeney and G. Mills Publications Fund at the New Museum. Education and community programs are supported, in part, by the American Chai Trust.
Generous support for artist residencies is provided by the Ford Foundation, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Laurie Wolfert, and an anonymous donor.
Support for artist projects, travel, and research is provided by: Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), Aeroméxico, Artis, Asian Cultural Council, Czech Center New York, Iaspis – the Swedish Arts Grants Committee’s International Programme for Visual Artists, Institut Français, Mexican Cultural Institute of New York, Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (SRE/AMEXCID), Office for Contemporary Art Norway: OCA, Ostrovsky Family Foundation, Royal Norwegian Consulate General of New York, SAHA Association, Lisa Schiff, and VIA Art.
Media partner
Opening events sponsored by
Help us improve our website by taking a 5-minute survey with a chance to win $100!
Take Survey