The group exhibition titled “Deconstrucciones: convivencias y convergencias hacia una antropología urbana” [Deconstructions: Coexistence and Convergences, Towards and Urban Anthropology] is part of a series of projects conducted at the Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina Española, this time working on the theme of urban anthropology, using the city as an object of study and art as a representative of the various problems presented in a contemporary urban environment. It touches on issues related to migration deterritorialization, minorities, hybridization, overpopulation, construction and technology. This is the third edition of an ongoing curatorial Project under the auspices of the group Serie Regional de Jugadores Pampers.

The exhibition opened yesterday, February 12, 2011, at the Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina Española at La Puntilla in Old San Juan (Puerto Rico). The show, which was curated by Abdiel Segarra Ríos, Bianca Ortiz Declet, and Ralph Vázquez Concepción, will be on view until March 19, 2011.

Participating artists are: Abigail Pantoja, Admin Torres & Jorge Cordero, Ae.i.Ou, Gabriel Piovanetti-Ferrer & Luis Antonio Diaz Alejandro, Elsa Meléndez, Melissa A. Calderón, Nora Maité Nieves, Raquel Quijano, Jason Mena, Rogelio Báez Vega, Javier Román, Ulrik Lopez Medel, Jesus Gómez, Rafael Enrique Báez Meléndez, Antuán Lazaga, Félix Rodriguez Rosa, Louie Maldonado, Carlos Torres, Gunzmoke, Elveen M. González Collins, Ruben Luciano, Juan Román, Filipo Tirado, Xavier Muñoz, Javier Cambre, Tara Rodríguez Besosa, Rafael Báez, Lorraine Rodríguez & Raymond Forbes, Edgardo Larrégui, Joel Rodriguez, and Pedro Muñiz.

Curators Abdiel Segarra Ríos, Bianca Ortiz Declet, and Ralph Vázquez Concepción, describe the exhibition as an exploration that thinks about the city as a living organism that feels and experiences, that pulsates and breathes through all the beings that traverse it. Vázquez explains, “Everyone gathers to delve into urban experience in order to create, and the result displayed [. . .] is a tapestry of attitudes surrounding life in the city.” Ana Teresa Toro (El Nuevo Día) writes that the artists address the city from the standpoints of “architecture and construction, the possibilities offered by discarded objects, the notion of the bus stop and traveling by public transportation, the night lighting of the urban landscape, society and its differences, the urban sound experience, and urban art as public art. [. . .] It is a virtual and audiovisual tour of the city seen through various media; a deconstruction of the city.”

Vázquez offers these examples: Antuan Lazaga collects reflections of buildings on glossy surfaces of automobiles; Felix Rodríguez Rosa deals with the “debris” or “detritus” that appears as a result of human activity in the city, Javier Cambre designs a public artwork for El Condado’s Ventana al Mar área; and Javier Román redefines the concept of “ruins.” She adds, “The city is alive, and lives through us. We add to its story, we build it, we criticize it, we destroy it… this project wants to highlight all of this.”

Brief description from http://jasonmena.com/

For full article (in Spanish), see http://www.elnuevodia.com/actitudesdeciudad-887418.html