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August 8, 2023


The Resistance of the Echo & La Eco-Resistencia

By Noah Lacsina, Jennifer Kearns (Adapted)

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San Diego, CA. On Monday, August 21, 2023, the San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery will display The Resistance of the Echo & La Eco-Resistencia: a multimedia installation by artist Francisco Eme. This multimedia installation is an urban ecology study focusing on the biological dynamics of a canyon situated in a suburb of San Diego. This work will be displayed from August 21st, to September 14th, in the San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery.

 

The Resistance of Echo & La Eco-Resistencia turned into a contemplative multimedia art project, an urban ecology study focusing on the biological dynamics of a canyon situated in a suburb of San Diego. The work in this exhibit is inspired by Francisco’s act of eco-resistance, taking hundreds of photographs, videos and audio recordings of the canyon behind their home for the past five years.

 

Date/Time: Displayed: Monday, August 21st – Thursday, September 14th

       Reception: Thursday, August 31, 4-7 PM

                   Artist Talk and Concert: Thursday September 14, 5-7 PM

 

Location: Art Gallery FA-103

                Event Parking in Lot #1. Park in STAFF spaces only

 

Links: Video journal of the canyon https://www.youtube.com/@telecanon-canyongardentv6607

 

Instagram Journal https://www.instagram.com/canyon_garden/

 

 

More Information about the Exhibition:

During the pandemic, artist Francisco Eme turned his attention to this canyon. He removed the invasive plants and nurtured the growth of indigenous species; he observed the flora and the fauna, listened to the call of coyotes, birds, and recorded their comings and goings. He has collected objects, organic and manmade, and created others. These documents and artifacts, are the foundational materials for the artworks in the exhibition.

 

 

Francisco Eme studies the canyon using a scientific approach and data visualization techniques. In one of the installations, a sensor registers the amount of CO² particles in the air and produces sound to quantify the effects of this compound in the atmosphere. Animal sounds emerge from speakers-vessels molded with the clay from the canyon. A video intersperses aerial views of the ravine with thermal camera captures of Nature’s nocturnal life. An altar memorializes the remains of a tree that a neighbor removed to replace with fake grass.  A wooden core, a trunk, and root heart all represent both mourning and acceptance. The exhibit also presents the transmutation of human-made objects back into nature, or the transformation of creatures into magical instruments.

 

This project was also envisioned as a way to collaborate with craftsmen and artists from Mexico. Consultations with biologists and botanists have taken place along the project as well. The exhibition dives into complex dynamics and tensions in the canyon to find an ecological balance within the small wild areas enveloped by big city civilization. The exhibition also incorporates Mexican crafts, urban myths and personal experiences to connect the animal and the human, the scientific and the spiritual.

Francisco Eme, The Calling, 2023, clay, installation by Francisco Eme in collab with Evan Lopez & Lustre Estudio, TJ.

About Francisco Eme: Francisco Eme (1981) is from Mexico City and Oaxaca, Mexico. He currently lives and works in San Diego, California. Francisco is a music composer, artist and curator. As an artist, he mainly works with sound, but various disciplines are integrated into his practice such as photography, video, and installation. Music compositions and artworks have been presented in museums, galleries, and concert halls in Mexico, the United States, Europe, and South America. He has released albums as a soloist, and in collaborations as well as musical projects in various genres; mainly electroacoustic, experimental, and electronic pop music. Francisco is the Arts and Culture Director at The FRONT Arte & Cultura, a binational art space in San Diego, US – Tijuana, Mexico border region, where he curate’s art exhibitions, workshops, concerts and performances.

 

Gallery Hours: M, T, W, TH 12 - 5 p.m. (Or by appointment.) Closed Fridays, Weekends & Holidays. For additional information, please visit: https://www.sdmesa.edu/art-gallery or call (619) 818-3446

 

About the Mesa College Gallery: Galleries & Attractions (sdmesa.edu)

 

 

 

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Tags: San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery, Mesa College, Art Exhibit