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Juan Bufill
Time Space Song Place The history of of art is is full of of solid forms specif­ ics which seem immutable and final as if they were written in stone Compositions and rup­ tures have been made about them There are however other possible visions I have been asked to to write a a a a text about a a a a topic not im­ mediately obvious: »Faire chanter l’espace« something like space turned into song and related to my work It is an an extraordinary and inspiring task Firstly I realize that my pho­ tos which are considered abstract and in my film which is considered experimental reality is not divided into specific shapes and spac­ es es In my pictures the space tends to be emp­ tied of objects and and known and and specific feel­ ings it it tends to dematerialize losing gravity and and gaining flight and and to fill
with musicality indefinite and many sided forms: Light­colour or or signs of of light dark spectrums or or traces of of energy fleeting glimpses The material is now not not only a a a a a a wall and the space is not not a a a a a a vacu­ um but an an opening The permanent appear­ ance of solidity no longer prevails because the the reality is is in in its flow visible in in the the speed of water air and fire­in­appearance — is not as as as it it was was when it it was was slow and in front of the presence of solid bodies On one occasion I was told that my photos were like a a a synthe­ sis of Heraclites and Plato It is is true that the appearance and mystery rather than the the ap­ pearance of the incomplete­platonic mani­ festation are fundamental for me me And I think like Heraclites when he he considers reality to be fluid and not final Many of my photos mov­ ies videos and poems are visions of a a a fluid flowing reality Perhaps the most extreme expression of this is is the video (filmed in Su­ per 8 8 film) »Travelling Light « 2006–2008 This fluid vision is is is not only objective and spatial scale scale in the normal scale scale of sep­ aration and allegedly »realistic« but is is also a a a a a a a vision of a a a time­space where the forms are perceived as transformations and moreo­ ver it it is is a vision of unity desiring the merg­ ing or reconciliation of opposites I would like to make images which can function as both a a a a a a a a wall a a a a a a a a mirror and a a a a a a a a space capable of ex­ pressing at once the soul body and universe so small and and and hidden and and and distant matter and and and spirit essence and existence objective real­ ity ity and subjective reality I have admired the fusions of of Arp and and the the synthesis of of Klee and and Miro in their »Constellations« I have sympa­ thized with the the signs of Michaux and the the ma­
© Juan Bufill
»Generaciones (Los Centros)« 2001
terials of Tàpies but I don’t want to express myself only through personal gestures but also discover and explore find my dream fin in external reality especially in nature perhaps as a a a a a way and a a a a a medium to meet it Therefore I have not needed to to paint but to to use film and photography I did not want to to translate but to find and and compose landscapes that look like general existence and fit in with my way of being I tend to perceive the forms not only in in space but also in in time Thus I tend to view reality not as something definitive but as as a a a a a a stage the result of a a a a a a process and as as a a a a a starting point towards a a a a a future that could be imagined differently This vision which I have called meta­realistic because it points to something beyond what realism is is limited to accept This can have a a a a positive sense it it allows possibilities to imagine something bet­ ter than any present situation (and everything in the the present is the the result of projects events and events from the past) I can also say that while social reality does not appear in my pictures if my abstract landscapes express an an an ideology it is is libertarian anti nihilistic and perhaps utopian But temporal­ ity ity entails melancholy It leads to an an inability to to perceive a a presence without relating it it to to its possible absence and to imagine the ap­ pearance of of beauty with the possibility of of its disappearance A being in in time reveals the ephemeral the very very belonging of everything in existence In my case one consequence of this vision has been a a a a a special fascination for everything (images movements or rhythms) to express the notion of intensity with a fleet­ ing ing reality which calls for an an understanding which is is now not space space but time­space It is is natural that one of of the the main themes of of my photos and and my movies and and videos is water invisible forms and and continuous and and fleeting transformations beyond human perception It’s no wonder that my favourite means of ex­ pression is is film (or video which is is the same art) photography and poetry the image of arts and knowledge within a a a rhythmic mu­ sic I think the essence and original­ ity of of the the film is as in the the projection of of light on a a a a plane in in the words in in space and time the possibility of transformation changing from a a a given situation It is what occurs be­ tween two frames whose relationship as Werner Nekes said would be the least ex­ pressive unit in in in cinema cinema Thus cinema cinema cap­ tures and expresses reality in its flow It is art that represents the passage of time through the representation of space through time But this time the art is is not only chronological but also kairologic It is a a a a a musical time­space that no longer sounds tragic but in someway saved Photography relates to to time in in a a a different way If the essence of cinema is is to make visible the passage of time and therefore the the possibility of transformation the the essence of photography is to to reveal the the moment Normally it tends to fix the fleet­ ing moment to to stop in in in an image in in in the pass­ ing of time That is is is is to say: this this existed this this happened and its only shareable memory is this image Some photographers have criti­ cally questioned the veracity of photography through using photographic simulations and lies To me however I am interested in in the photograph as a a a a means of discovery disclo­ sure and representation of external realities usually invisible and at the same time per­
sonal experiences I have not given 33 up on reality or or or its mystery or or or the creative or or or poetic possibilities of this or any other means For me photography has always been that in a a a a a a a very abstract and essential way photogra­ phy means writing or drawing with light and these are respectively my series »Natural Scripts« and »Generations « « Both are exam­ ples of my two main research lines The pur­ pose of of the the first set was a a picture of of the the flight of time to reveal through the camera what is invisible to the the eye make snapshots of the the in­ visible The second is is inspired by the cinema (Marie Menken in the 60s) and performs ex­ actly the opposite of what is supposed to be a a photograph It is not representing the mo­ ment but the flow of time Expressing in in a still image fluidity like a a a drawing coming into be­ ing ing leaving an imprint of the past is a a a a a snap­ shot of time Moreover in »Generations« the signs signs are a a a a a a personal image of natural signs signs Both series show that culture is nature and that comes as part of it These are the ideas that I can rationalize stem visual sensory and and intuitive and and are the result of looking at reality through the viewfinder of the the camera and adding to the the capabilities of the the natural eye eye those of the the mechanical eye eye Many of of my photos of of water and electricity from 1992 until now as as well as as recent films and videos such as as »Signaturas (summary)« (2006–2008) come from a a discovery made filming »Frontera« in in 1978 Current open pho­ tographic series like »In Rain Forests« have their origin in in my experimental film »Green« (1978) and some fragments I filmed in super 8 in the video for »The Journey of Robert Wyatt« (TV3 1987) look towards some still open series like »Generations« Juan Bufill
photographer/ film-maker
born and currently living in in Barcelona Spain