Page 9 - Quarantine Diaries Booklet

of of time time he he tells me me me me that he he started to to use part of of of his his time time to to review old memories of of of the the the house That is is is when his his mother started to show him him the the the cakes of of soap she has been saving for him him The idea fited perfectly Shortly after the coronavirus pandemic broke out and and he he he he began posting photos of of the the the old cakes of of soap that his mother had stored and the the the the ones he he he he was using during the the the lockdown in in in his Instagram account For Roberto the posting served him as a a a a a a a a a a a sort of of a a a a a a a a a a a personal calendar It marked the passage of of time when quarantine made it difficult to differentiate one day from
the next The series of soap photos did not not go unnoticed amongst Roberto’s followers in in his Instagram account He had made four posts when people started sending him photos photos of of of their bars of of of soap from
different parts of of of the the world: “I got photos photos from
from
from
friends but also from
from
from
people I I I didn’t know I I got photos from
from
from
the United States Brazil Thailand Pakistan Morocco France and and and from
different cities in Germany and and Colombia” Hence the the photos began to to become a a a a a a collaborative work work of art: the the the work’s relationship to to time is evident to to the the viewer The used soap reflects a a a a a a a a fundamental characteristic of of how we feel life today its ephemeral nature with use the bar of of soap disappears This brings me to another literary analogy: for Marcel Proust (1871-1922) the the the past was hidden somewhere outside the the the realm beyond the the the reach of intellect in in in some material material object object in in in the the sensation which which that material material object object will give us of which which which we have no inkling It is is is is precisely this evocative process which which is is is is constantly described by Proust in A la Recherche
du du Temps Perdu where he he he stresses the continuing effects of specific things and their their properties: their their color taste or or or smell for instance in in the the the process of evocation This resonates with Roberto’s work where we can perceive that the the magnitude of of the the the great art-masterpiece has been transferred to the the poetics of of recognising an an an object that is is is perpetually moulded by skin and time until it it it disappears without leaving any trace of of its existence As Roberto states “the cake of of of soap narrates life itself the the the vulnerability of of of bodies and the the the different forms of of approach with an object that has always been there without rhetoric” In an essay published in the the University web portal Labgeoesterica com com the the the authors comment on on on the the participatory construction of of Quarantine Diaries and the the opening of of of the the art world to to anyone who wants to to tell something through a a a a a a a a a a a bar of of soap and a a a a a a a a a a a camera a a a a a a a a a a a gesture where the the artist is is lost in in the the the the multiplicity of of agents with their their unique interpretation of of of their their pieces adding different layers of of meaning to the the the the co-creative process For the the the the authors of of of the the the the the essay this gesture by the the the the the artist of of of making public the the the the photos of of of an an intimate everyday object and opening the the the the participation of others with their photos on on his Instagram account is is a a a a a a a a gesture that represents in itself the object of art: its its capacity to to to to unfold to to to to be be moulded and and to to to to to be be subject to to to to to a a a a a a a a singular understanding that intermittently adds to to to to the the extension of the the limits understood by art art (Vargas Sanabria Martinez 2020) By Adriana Valderrama López
Donegal April 2021
Quarantine Diaries 9