Inertia. Device and Residue.
(Maastricht / Eiffelgebouw)
In his work Carlos Irijalba (1979, Spain) examines abstract themes like the constructability of reality. Usually Irijalba is sceptical about Western culture that mainly produces things that seems to refer uniquely to themselves and do not establish a relationship with their surroundings or similar objects. The artist often puts culture into direct relationship with existing structures and processes such as geology, where powers of nature reign and materials are quickly (or slowly) building up to disappear again at the same rate.
In Inertia Irijalba presents a game with rhythm and visual sightlines. Through them he investigates how we experience time and space. The road that comes into view does not convey anything about its precise location or direct environment. The ray of light illuminates very selectively parts of the road, the verdant shoulder and the woods and thus draws our attention to quite specific details. What we observe is and is at the same time not a real location, the landscape hits our gaze in a fragmented way and strikes us as both familiar and alien.