Development and Maintenance
Development and Maintenance are the systems at the base of every kind of revolution; the “development” is the creative act, is the New, the Progress, while the “maintenance” is what preserves the creation from degradation, making sure that the New remains innovative, renewing the excitement.
The Red Poppy Art House presents Development and Maintenance, the solo exhibition by Tana Quincy Arcega revolving around the meaning of these pivotal systems within our culture and within Contemporary Art. The artist turns mass-produced, functional and disposable items (such as spackling compound, aluminum window screens, shellac, and upholstery fabrics) into artistic tools, giving them new existence through the poetic vision.
We usually look at development as the goal of our run towards a successful life without thinking about its driving force: maintenance, but there's no success with no awareness, nor progress with no care. The care with which Quincy molds raw materials, instead, reminds us to stop and look with likewise care at familiar objects turned into unfamiliar forms. The observation act requires time that is lacking in many aspects of our life. Let's try to replicate this attentive gaze toward simple activities which build our society's ecosystem, what could happen? We might realize how important is the preservation of our ideals in prolonging an evolutionary process, protecting an individual to bolster the community, being fair in our small acts to sustain a global improvement. To do so we really need to slow down.
Reading through the lines of appearance requires patience, in fact M.L.Ukeles used to say: “Maintenance is a drag; it takes all the fucking time”. Quincy draws the technique for reading through those lines on rough surfaces. Slow down, and you'll hear them whispering a praise to the coarse material.
text by Elena Mencarelli