Zin Ex. Body and Architecture

Western humanism conceived "man" as an autonomous agent and measure of all things, symbolized by bodily perfection. This allegedly abstract ideal, however, is nothing but a white, able-bodied male. The binary logic of this civilizational paradigm has fostered social exclusion and Otherness throughout history, and has been challenged by the fight against racism and inequality, for cultural integrity, women's rights, and sexual difference. New ways of understanding the entanglement of all entities inhabiting planet Earth advocate embodiment, empathy and care as a means to recognise the complexity of the human subject.

In response to the recent pandemic and the experience of confinement and isolation, which made communication even more dependent on digital media, Zin Ex. Body and Architecture explores the physical relationships between body, technology and the built as well as natural environment. The expanded cinema and feminist art of the late 1960s and 1970s not only abandoned the classic cinema space, but liberated the image of the body from objectification, putting it in touch with reality. Another group of historical references in the exhibition features experimental architectural designs based on audiovisual effects, participation, change, and sustainability. 

This second Zin Ex project is accompanied by a programme of live performances, screenings and workshops, which take place partly in the exhibition space. It cultivates an encounter with international contemporary art practices that predominantly engage cinematic tools including staged documentary, semi-fictional narrative, music and dance on screen: a multiplicity of perspectives on individual and collective corporeality in a posthuman world.

With the participation of: Federico Adorno, Marjoleine Boonstra, Stephanie Comilang, Katja Davar, José Miguel de Prada Poole, Discoteca Flaming Star, Pepe Espaliú, VALIE EXPORT, Yona Friedman, Haus-Rucker-Co, Laura Henno, Sky Hopinka, Hsu Che-Yu, Sohrab Hura, Ricardo Iriarte, Michelle-Marie Letelier, Dóra Maurer, Ana Mendieta, Lygia Pape, Alice Anne Parker (Severson), Rory Pilgrim, Sergio Prego, Victoria Santa Cruz, Tomás Saraceno and Bárbara Wagner & Benjamin de Burca. 

Curated by Florian Wüst

in collaboration with the participants of the 2020-2021 seminar Zin Ex - On the practice of curating film exhibitions at Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola: Anna Babos, Renan Camilo, Ramón de Fontecha, Florencia de Mugica, Amaranta Díaz Carnero, Alejandra Frechero, Adrián García, Paula González, Laida Mendia, Mariana Queen Nwabasili, Pablo Lillo Aguilar, Simon Petri-Lukács, Oderay Ponce de León, Valery Rojas and Blanca Velasco Navarro.