The archive one thousand one hundred eleven is an exercise that started on August 17th, 2016. Consists on taking a photograph every day at exactly the same time to whatever is in front of me, let the files cool for 24 months and then visit that moment frozen in time by making a drawing based on it. The first face of this project will take 11 full years, meaning that the first day of year 12 is the first day of Archive one thousand two hundred twelve, the second face of the project. Archive 1111 consists of 4017 photos and 4017 drawings. The photo archive finishes on August 16, 2027 and the drawing archive finishes August 16, 2029.
Archive 1111_Year 01 | 365 days in 365 seconds
Año 1, (2016-2017) 365 dibujos. Bienal de dibujo , Museo de arte del Salvador. Foto: Walterio Iraheta
Drawing Autonomy
The history of drawing is told in the shadow of painting, sculpture and architecture; until recently it was thought that this could not exist except in terms of other artistic disciplines. The idea of the preliminary and the study lasted well into the twentieth century.
To some extent, contemporary art has been responsible for claiming the drawing as an autonomous and independent medium, it has given it the possibility of empowering itself in a kind of late emancipation since drawing is one of the oldest media, which not only did it exist before architecture or sculpture, but it was from the beginning the most used; its nature makes it one of the simplest and most accessible human expressions.
But if contemporary art unpacks and releases the drawing of its traditional function, it is important to note that some art- ists also claim the idea of the sketch, giving the process as much value as the finished work. It is not strange to find in the circuit of current art with works that are conceived from drawing as a basis or as a conceptual strategy, with a finish and a management of the environment that make it clear that it is a work in itself. Today, large format drawing and non-traditional media compete with painting and sculpture in more balanced conditions.
The drawing is in the genes from the beginning of humanity. Central America has always had great artists and a graphic tradition that is well worth recovering. The “new” interest in drawing in current art is nothing more than a return to basics, what is essential, a return to that primal and universal gesture.
Walterio Iraheta / Curator