Urban Pathologies, 2018
Site-specific installation Paper, ink
“Urban Pathologies” (2018) is a site-specific installation in which the artist chose to use the floor of the large theater/auditorium at the Union of Architects and Engineers of Cuba (UNAICC) in Havana. The audience walked over thousands of sketches scattered throughout the space, creating a sort of controlled chaos. Pages filled with drawings and notes referring to the “ailments” and “symptoms” afflicting architecture—cracks, settlement, collapses, and dampness—which were likely pretexts for addressing pressing issues in contemporary society and the city in a manner that was both direct and poetic. In Urban Pathologies, we witness an open archive, scattered across the floor, stripped of its order, and also vilified in time with the movements of the hands in the video animation Abyss. Iconic and virtually unknown buildings in Havana are sketched on an architectural plan whose legend—which replaces the classic blue with red chalk—reveals these “diseases” of the materials, which often correspond to what are known as “social ills.” These pages, scattered to the wind, could be seen as an anarchic gesture—as delicate as it is violent—of creating a makeshift architectural archive that bears witness to the decadent beauty of the city where the artist grew up. Homage and critical perspective form a constant duality in Garaicoa’s work.
Installation view at Unión Nacional de Arquitectos e Ingenieros de la Construcción de Cuba UNAICC (2018) and at Centro Atlántico de Arte Modero (CAAM), Las Palmas de Canaria (2024).
Photo: Néstor Kim (2018) and Paco Rocha (2024).
