Cadu: Hornitos

Between August and October 2014, Cadu resided for two months in Hornitos, Chile. This solitary immersion was made possible by an invitation from the Plataforma Atacama, an independent project aimed at the development of artistic and cultural initiatives in different parts of Chile, taking the Atacama Desert as a basis. During the residency, Cadu developed artworks which echo that period of reclusion and reflection, focusing on discussions that involve the relationships between man and nature, solitude and creativity, systems and the passage of time.

Hornitos is a beach located between the Pacific Ocean and the desert. The continuous and aggressive presence of the sun as a mediator of all the cycles in the region was used as a starting point for the construction of two works featured in this solo show. In Hemisférios [Hemispheres], 2014, Cadu presents 168 sheets of tracing paper bearing marks burned into their surfaces by intensified sunlight. To make this artwork, the artist developed a support on which a magnifying glass was held still above a stack of sheets of tracing paper. Each sheet of tracing paper symbolizes an hour of the sun’s path, and the complete set constitutes a graphic record of the passage of one week in Hornitos, both extensively and intensively, as the 24 sheets of each stack were burned in a way that is proportional to the temperature and intensity of the sun on each day.The same device constructed for Hemisférios was used to produce a sequence of photographs titled Trópico de Capricórnio, 2014 [Tropic of Capricorn, 2014]. The polyptych presents the record of the changing positions of the sun made on a box of black sand, 30 days before the beginning of spring. Presented together, the two artworks convey a simultaneously enlarged and dynamic notion of temporality in the untamed region of the Atacama Desert.

The climate of the Atacama Desert is also investigated in the series Wind Line, 2014. With artist and designer Marcos Kotlhar, Cadu conceived a structure that systematizes readings of the behavior of the wind in the form of drawings. With the device, data collected by an anemometer are interpreted by a software that treats velocity as a vector of displacement and considers the wind’s cardinal direction to produce commands that move a pen in different directions and distances to make a drawing. The duration of each drawing depends on the intended type of graphic investigation and can last for a period ranging from a few hours to several months.

As in Wind Line, the wind is likewise present in the video Psicopompo [Psychopomp]. With the aid of young Chilean students, Cadu installed a set of white flags on a slope in such a way that they dance in accordance with the strength and direction of gusts of air. The title of the video refers to the Greek word psychopompós, a combination of psyché (soul) and pompós (guide). The term denotes a being whose function is to conduct the human perception on occasions of initiation or transition.

Cadu also recorded the time he spent in Hornitos by means of a diary and a series of sculptures. The diary, now published in pocketbook format, narrates events that took place during his residency, interspersing domestic situations with commentaries concerning the creation of the works that arose based on the local context. The book, titled Hornitos, is available to the exhibition attendees to take home with them. The sculptures of the Sambaqui series were produced with found crab shells, to which the artist applied acid to make geometric patterns. Their surfaces were submitted to slow and graphic interventions that record the artist’s time, while he recorded the time of Hornitos.