Eduardo Navarro

Work:
In collaboration with the Sun (2017). Seven mirrored suits and solar synchronization; duration and dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist and Galeria Nara Roesler

Venue:
Kling & Bang

Eduardo Navarro’s performances and interventions incorporate meditative practices that offer alternative ways of seeing and experiencing the world. Through a combination of empathy and intense observation, he seeks to minimize the distance between himself and his object of study. With Timeless Alex (2015), for example, Navarro challenged the human body to consider the position of the turtle, and how it’s perception of time might affect their cognition and self-awareness. For this work, he created a sculptural model of a Galápagos tortoise, which he donned and endeavored to embody the animal’s experience of a slower state of being. With Instruction from the Sky (2016), Navarro turned his attention to the unpredictable movement of clouds. For this work, a group of performers, outfitted with circular mirrors that reflect the sky, followed the passing of clouds floating above. The mirrored discs, as they gathered information from the sky, reflected the pathways of clouds and dictated the movements of the performers who traveled in sync with them.

In collaboration with the Sun (2017) continues Navarro’s interest in the conversation between celestial and terrestrial worlds. For this work, Navarro has constructed seven golden suits with mirrored masks and geometrical mirrors for the hands to operate. They are worn by dancers who will reflect the sunlight into the surrounding space, using the movements of their bodies as human sundials. Performances will take place towards the end of the day as the sun descends, and on a clear day, typically sets Reykjavik aglow—directly hitting the city on an angle as the earth spins away from its rays. As the exhibition takes place in the autumn-to-winter months, the duration of daylight will change dramatically from the beginning to end of the exhibition—from nearly eleven hours at the start of the show to a mere four hours twenty minutes at the end. While the movements of the dancers are choreographed by the sun, the suits will also guide the sun’s movements as they reflect its light into the exhibition space and also confuse the boundaries between inside and outside, daylight and artificial light, our earthly bodies and solar forms.