MARFA — Judd Foundation is pleased to present an installation of work by artist Gaby Híjar at La Mansana de Chinati/The Block as part of the Agave Festival Marfa. The installation will be open on Saturday, June 8, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For the installation at The Block, Híjar will present five works from two series of ceramic and clay sound pieces, and one piece from a series she refers to as “musicorporal objects,” a term the artist uses to describe the relationship between ceramics and music when activated by the body. Two works in the installation from the motion-contacto series, “Chubby (2018)” and “Green Body (2018)” contain little balls of clay and internal structures that create rainlike sounds when activated through motion. Three ceramic sculptures “Lluvia (2023),” “Train (2023)” and “Heart (2023)” extend explorations of sound through adjustable whistles that are activated with water and air.
“Regazo (2024),” a musicorporal object made of clay, is the second version in the series started by the artist a year ago, and its name derives from the Spanish word for lap. Híjar was inspired by the space created when the body is sitting, the lap, which disappears once an individual is standing. Interested in finding and naming these spaces created by the body in movement, Híjar creates sound sculptures within them and activates the pieces with air. During the installation at The Block, Híjar will activate multiple musicorporal objects while inviting the audience to “play” with the other installed sculptures. The activation of the works will generate an acoustic phenomenon known as “batimiento,” which occurs when two sine waves with different frequencies interfere with each other.
Híjar’s work will be presented in Marfa as part of the eighth edition of Festival de Arte Nuevo (New Arts Festival) organized by the Chihuahuan Department of Culture. This edition, “Habitar,” meaning “to inhabit,” follows the idea of how the spaces in which we live affects us and how we do the same to them. The installation at The Block, along with other sites in Marfa, will explore the idea and the importance of every individual piece that forms a whole in a community.
The installation throughout the outdoor spaces of The Block will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will be activated by the artist during a performance at 1 p.m. This program is free and open to the public as part of the Agave Festival Marfa.
For more information on the event, please visit www.juddfoundation.org/programs.