David Macho
The artist coined the phrase, “bureaucratic plasticity,” using it as the foundation of his practice.“I use this concept to criticise the institution, not as an institutional critique.” You can purchase the artist's earrings entitled T.A.T.E (Tiny art teasing emotional) or have a laugh trying his Instagram filter ‘Bollo Face’. Working on the launch of Oxymore Magazine and several other creative projects, we look forward to seeing what’s next for David Macho.
What was your first memory of wanting to create art?
Although it may be hard to believe, my first memory was nothing significant, I didn’t stand in front of a painting and see its shapes mobilise and its colours vibrate before me. My first encounter with art had nothing to do with the "Stendhal Syndrome" to which so many artists resort to. My relationship with art began when I was 7 years old, a neighbour of mine from my village had drawn a charcoal rose, and as the obsessive character that I am, I spent a whole month insisting my mum to sign me up for drawing classes so I could replicate my neighbours rose. I made sure of reminding her every day. Sick of me, she did finally sign me up to a class. Years later, my parents took me to several museums in Madrid, to get to know other artists. That's where I discovered Picasso and Frida Kahlo, I had many nightmares with their paintings for years. I couldn’t comprehend that something so horrendous had so much value. Later on I understood why.
How has living in Barcelona shaped your artistic practice?
Barcelona is great, it's very cosmopolitan, everyone here is very creative and fun. No! I’m kidding! Although I don't enjoy admitting it, Barcelona has greatly influenced my artistic practice, but not because it’s one of the European capitals of culture, but because of the social crisis that has been going on in recent years. The rise of independence, the terrorist attack of Las Ramblas, the increase in crime, burning containers, police abuse or the barricades put out in the streets, these are some of the events that have influenced me both as an artist and as resident of this city. You could say that my artistic practice has been fed by the unease that this city generates in those of us who reside here. "You don't know how kitsch this all can turn out to be."
Why have you chosen to work along a transdisciplinary fields of art?
Because working with one single discipline is boring and limiting, in addition there is not one which stands out above the rest, although painting possibly is what defines me most. I prefer working more with ideas, and depending on what I want to do, I look for the means I need and mix disciplines.
What concept are you working with in your ‘Pendiente’ series?
This project is called T.A.T.E. (Tiny art teasingly emotional). It consists of a series of miniature- sized reproductions of paintings that have been important in the history of art. With this project I work on the idea of copying, playing with accessible and democratic art, a game where everyone can acquire a small work of art, a souvenir so to speak, of what has been sold to us as inaccessible and contemplative. In addition, each piece can be used as an earring, and is stored in a packaging that fulfils the function of a museum, with a security guard printed in the inside of the box protecting the work. It is an art Project to takeaway, so you can “ir hecha un cuadro” (spanish expression). It is a miniature system of art.
Your work often deals with the idea of ‘bureaucratic plasticity’.Tell us more about this.
“Bureaucratic plasticity" is a term I have coined to try to understand my artistic practice, since there is no word in the field of art that would represent my way of working. The closest could be "institutional criticism", although this concept is currently a bit obsolete. "Bureaucratic plasticity" is a way of saying that bureaucratic procedures are associated with a specific aesthetic and can therefore be taken to the field of plastic. At first glance, bureaucracy may seem an intangible concept, but there is a whole imaginary that shapes this word. If we search in "google images" the word bureaucracy there are thousands of photographs that represent this idea. And if bureaucracy has images that represent it, it means that there is a plastic component to work with.
In my pieces I handle the bureaucratic movements that surround me and show them in a plastic way, for example, in my exhibition that took place in Miscelanea, that was called “Todos los artistas molan más que yo” (all artiststs are cooler than me), I talked about how the art system is precarious to emerging artists and how the bureaucracy intervenes to continue maintaining this hierarchy. «The bureaucratic plasticity is to give aesthetic form to the administrative procedures that surround us and that to some extent may seem invisible. I use this concept to criticise the institution, not as an institutional critique. »
What are you working on at the moment?
I am currently working on several projects, some are commissioned by individuals who want a Macho piece on the wall of their house, and others are more laborious jobs, projects that wish to collaborate with me. Among them, in which I am most excited to participate is OXYMORE MAGAZINE, a queer magazine that will release its first issue in January. I will participate by creating a map to get lost from the queer-pop scene in Barcelona. The magazine will contain a life-size print as if it were a superpop poster for intellectual teenagers.
On the other hand, in October and November I exhibited my last canvases in three different events. At the launch of a brand of platforms shoes, After take off; in they say, at Candy Darling an establishment that gives voice to local queer artists and also was part of Manipulating divisions of joy, an exhibition that took place in the Haimney Gallery. All this whilst continuing the development of T-A-T.E (my brand of earrings) and a brand of hand-painted clothes that I hope to release next year, although at the moment I am looking for designers to collaborate with.
courtesy DAVID MACHO
interview CASSANDRA SEIDEL
More to read
