The Persistence of Anguish: Memory, Absence, and Voice in Colombian Video Art

• Main Author: Carolina Acosta Martínez
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universidad Nacional de Colombia 2014-10-01
• Series: Desde el Jardín de Freud
• Subjects: Angustia, ausencia, estética, ética, guerra, memoria, videoarte, voz.
• Online Access: http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/jardin/article/view/46120

<p>It seems that there is no place for<br />aesthetics in a conflictive context<br />such as the Colombian one;<br />however, local artists have insisted<br />on hinting at those aspects of the<br />real that we turn our backs on in<br />order to protect ourselves. In this<br />order of ideas, the article highlights<br />the ethical nature of a series of<br />Colombian video art works that<br />“make a statement” regarding the<br />socio-cultural conditions in which<br />they arose. Appealing to memory,<br />absence, and voice, it seems that<br />these works seek to startle and<br />produce anguish in their viewers by<br />presenting an abundance of banal<br />texts and images offered by the media<br />(including the already famous<br />signifier, “post-conflict”), which<br />distract us from the horrors of war.</p>