At LOOP Barcelona 2016, Dürst Britt & Mayhew presented a solo exhibition by Raúl Ortega Ayala. His video work ‘Field-note 25-01-16 (unintended anthropometric and behavioural study material)’ consists of footage from VHS tapes that were abandoned in a dusty corner in the storage of a film set in Mexico City. The tapes contained many different things but Ortega Ayala selected only casting shots for commercials from the 1990s, because they depict subjects that did not make it into the realm of history. In this case the footage shows all those people that were not selected for one reason or another, while also portraying rather unintentionally an anthropometric exercise, a portrait of contemporary behaviour and a depiction of people’s aspirations. The quick succession of various human types tragicomically characterises an age, which was still unaware of the impact that mobile communications, social networks, and reality shows would soon have.
LOOP Barcelona 2016: Raúl Ortega Ayala
2 - 4 June 2016
