55th International Art Exhibition. The Encyclopedic Palace (2013)

Cordiox

To represent Mexico in the 55th edition of the Venice Biennale, the artist Ariel Guzik presented Cordiox, curated by Itala Schmelz and located in San Lorenzo church.

Cordiox -derived from string and heart- is a machine-musical instrument which core is a four-meter hollow cylinder made of the best quality quartz, and articulated to a string set by a wooden bridged system. Located in the San Lorenzo church, it’s objective was to establish a sound dialogue with the space, describing melodically the surroundings through a subtle and expansive cadency. The piece had the capacity to encompass sonorously the inner surface and ambient of the whole church. The water, the heat and the steps of the visitors were captured by its mechanism, transforming them into harmonies and generating unique sensorial experiences.

Cordiox was inspired by the love for nature, the nostalgia for analogue mechanisms and the artist’s desire to merge science and art. Thanks to three decades of research and laboratory experiments, Guzik was able to bring fantasy to the audience and reflect the empathic reactions between beings and objects. Likewise, the artist proposes a science that contradicts the modern principle functionality, and instead is used to create contact and produce sensations.

Artist: Ariel Guzik

Curatorship: Itala Schmelz