Alberto Aguilar
Alberto Aguilar
Alberto
Aguilar
b. 1974 STUDIO IN CHICAGO, IL
Every object, family member, and activity in Alberto Aguilar’s Chicago home is potentially a part of his artistic practice. Rather than carve out a specialized room for art-making, he makes the entire house—and the lives led therein—his studio. Sometimes he’s creating a temporary sculptural installation out of household objects to greet a pair of visiting curators. Other times, he’s documenting his family’s excursions and games.
Robert Rauschenberg famously said that he aspired to work “in the gap between art and life.” Aguilar has closed that gap, and his works seamlessly intertwine the two. In Sensitive Equipment, Aguilar documents (in video) a spontaneous living room game his children have invented. Recreating the scene for the Museum audience, the artist invites us all to play in a carpeted arena and to discover the unexpected beauty of the work’s unstructured movement, its gently floating balloon, and its delicate, ever-changing music.
Robert Rauschenberg famously said that he aspired to work “in the gap between art and life.” Aguilar has closed that gap, and his works seamlessly intertwine the two. In Sensitive Equipment, Aguilar documents (in video) a spontaneous living room game his children have invented. Recreating the scene for the Museum audience, the artist invites us all to play in a carpeted arena and to discover the unexpected beauty of the work’s unstructured movement, its gently floating balloon, and its delicate, ever-changing music.
I tried to keep a studio, but I always felt that it was something so far removed from my reality. And it was also an obstacle. It was always getting in the way of…living, I guess. There came a certain point where I realized I could document my household chores and call it my artwork, and it helped me take care of two birds with one stone.
— Alberto Aguilar
