Work / 004

Desde Adentro

2003  /  12 C-type photographs, 12-hour video installation  /  89 x 123 cm (photographs), edition of 5

Desde Adentro — Trace on surface after the attack Desde Adentro — Trace of absence on wall Desde Adentro — Silhouette of volatilized object Desde Adentro — Handprint on ash Desde Adentro — Outline of removed painting Desde Adentro — Door covered in ash film Desde Adentro — Devastated staircase Desde Adentro — Record of interior destruction Desde Adentro — Detail of ash-covered surface Desde Adentro — Devastated space of Club El Nogal Desde Adentro — Vestige of human presence Desde Adentro — Everyday object after the explosion Desde Adentro — Documentation of aftermath Desde Adentro — Final record of the series

Series of photographs and video captured a few days after the attack on Club El Nogal on February 7, 2003, in which 39 people died and hundreds were injured. The artist was working at this institution at the time of the events.

A few days after the attack of February 7, 2003, as the person responsible for the artistic heritage of Club El Nogal, I had to enter its premises to verify the condition of the artworks. What I saw and felt during that visit will remain in my memory forever. As I carried out this task, I knew it was necessary to keep a record of what I found around me.

The building had been sealed off by the authorities until that moment. Everything was in the state it had been left in after the impact, as if after it, time had stopped. On the lower floors the darkness was total due to the electrical collapse, and a black veil of soot caused by the fire covered the walls and objects.

Desde Adentro arises from that experience. It seeks to approach what happened by capturing the atmosphere of what was lived there through the recording of a series of signs and traces that I found in different places, imprinted on dust and soot.

Most of the photographs were taken three days after the attack. Others, a week later when the removal of debris began, the moment when the video was also made: a record of 12 continuous hours of filming, from a fixed shot, from dawn until the end of the day.

This document was captured while I was working at this institution. Made from a personal proximity to the events and the people, it constitutes a memory and a different perspective from the press versions, which were basically centered on the destruction, the material loss, and the identification of the culprits.

This work is dedicated to all the people who were in the building on the night of February 7: to those who survived and to those who did not.