Dear Pink’s
My virtual friend from Japan – Uleshka – just pointed that English version of Pink Statement is unavailable on the web and that I should put it on the blog. So here it is:
Pink Not Dead!
The title of the project is a paraphrase from the 1970’s famous punk slogan – Punk Not Dead! which we can freely translate as “Trash never dies!” – only a step away converting it into “Live trash!” however, Pink Not Dead! is far away from such a declaration. Likewise, the exhibition does not attempt at a simple glorification of the peripheries of sentimentalism.
Pink, at least during the last one hundred fifty years (since the concept of black and grey as masculine formal colors, with all of the seriousness that this implies) has connotations definitively pejorative. It is normally associated as superficial, effeminate and cheesy. The situation obviously varies depending on the geocultural context in which the spectator is located, therefore distinct perceptions of pink arise in Latin America, Asia or Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, in globalist terms (our reality) overall pink implies a false vision of happiness. This interpretation seems quite limiting and generally unsatisfactory. In the world of black and white political ideas that we are living today, it seems more fit to explore the whole rainbow and its peculiarities, of whose sum results in one or another extreme of this basic fundamentalist dichotomy.
Pink Not Dead! as a principal idea proposes a reflection on (and consequently revalorization of) the possible meanings and interpretations behind Pink as a concept. The mechanics is like implosion – explosion: first defining the spectrum of interest in “monochrome” with the decision of focusing on pink as the entire color range, afterwards expanding it and exploring the variety of “hues” that are contained.
Once entering the pink universe we are going to find ourselves curiously lost in between sensuality and innocence and unfasten the trip from serenity to perversion, sometimes without a return trip ticket. Here arise a variety of approximations and cases – from Eden-like garden floral habitats to death industries.
The project, which developed along 18 months, occurs in various dimensions and consists in numerous phases. Originally planned as an individual exhibition (therefore explaining my strong presence with a variety of different works), it quickly achieved a processed based collaboration. Seeing that the idea was to create a multidimensional sanctuary / multi-level archive on pink, the most natural act was to invite people from different origins and consequently different perspectives to delve into the matter.
Initially, there was the invitation of various artists: some of them already had existing pieces specifically related to the theme, and others were commissioned following the characteristics of their work and conceptual process. Some will be surely difficult to name as “pink” in the heart of their vision, a thing that was an enriching decision for the project, and consciously for that matter on behalf of the curatorial team and the participants.
After commissioning visual works, a thirst for expanding a possible verbal dimension remains. Therefore, the publication that will accompany the exhibition, in place of being a catalogue with respective commentaries on the work and vision of the artists, will result in a recompilation of different essays proposed by intellectuals, scientists, art historians and writers.
The third part of the project developed before anything as process, although also present in the exhibition and final publication consists in a series of social-philological exercises of the imagination, association and references of which will be made via the Internet with different groups of people. Pink Not Dead! for me is more than an artistic project ending in an exhibition. The intentions was always to accumulate, inside of available means, the biggest data possible, as well as reunite an archive of manifestations and opinions, and above all activate a mental-emotive dynamic in participants and users. To awake their pink subconscious.
Maurycy Gomulicki, Mexico City, May 2005