| The works of Marcel.lí Antúnez Roca are rich in meaning and take shape through the interaction of representational means, processes and actions. Through blending biological and technological, natural and artificial, real and imaginary, mental and physical elements and by a process of layering, relationships and connections become the powerful driving force of the artist’s imagination. |
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Marcel.lí Antúnez Roca by Vittoria Broggini
The works of Marcel.lí Antúnez Roca are rich in meaning and take shape through the interaction of representational means, processes and actions. Through blending biological and technological, natural and artificial, real and imaginary, mental and physical elements and by a process of layering, relationships and connections become the powerful driving force of the artist’s imagination.
In the 80s, the artist’s focus centered around the Spanish theatre collective Fura dels Baus, founded by himself, which staged pioneering experimental plays with extreme content, resembling Viennese Actionism and Happenings. Fura’s performances made use of violent and disturbing imagery and presented a ruthless analysis of flesh and body and technological, mechanical fantasies. Marcel.li’s exploration of information technology tools and techniques created analogies, which are as ominous and fantastic as they are spontaneous and natural.
Here it is possible to trace the theatrical origins of technology that Marcel.lí calls “systematurgy.” The artist’s curiosity fluctuates between an ongoing rediscovery of the ever more extreme boundaries of carnal longing and the potential for utopia by way of body-centric technology.
In the days of Fura, Marcel.lí was already turning his attention to the expressive potential of the human body, and passing the boundaries of traditional social and cultural meanings. Technology allowed the artist to reduce the gap between the origin of life, chaotic matter and a higher, sublime realm, which is tracked and identified as life itself.
This reveals a confidence in the application of technology beyond traditionally accepted categories of progress and function. The leading role in many exhibitions is played by the Exoskeleton, a complex technological device created by the artist. An unknown will that is external to the human body instructs it to perform actions and activities controlled by means of prosthesis that defy the will of the subject. The Exoskeleton lies at the heart of a reflection on perception and the senses, but also on the potential of intelligence and digital technology, which combine to redefine identity and conscience, memory and time.
In his works. Mechatronic (mechanic + electronic), Epizoo and Satél.lits obscens, Marcel.lí staged various manipulations of the human body, displaying trance states and sacrifice rituals with human flesh as a source of food, and sex as a way to connect with life and death alike. Thanks to the elaboration of software and mechatronic elements resulting from knowledge of information technology and bioengineering, Marcel.lí explores human behavior and the different externalization models available while focusing on the most extreme aspects ranging from sadomasochism to body art.
Marcel.lí displays ample freedom in the choice of different forms of communication synergically combined with his inexhaustible creativity, which never repeats itself. He never ceases to investigate the down-to-earthiness of the human body, the reality of human flesh, traveling along the path of desire, of Eros, which, spurred by hunger for knowledge, eventually oversteps even the boundaries of death itself, emphasizing the ephemeral nature of life and its insatiable craving for consummation.
Alfabeto and Tàntal are two interactive works that probe feelings and emotional behavior of the participating audience, who are led to turn their attention to themselves and reflect on the perception of their own identity. This artist’s work is wide-ranging and diverse and takes shape through drawing, performance and employing mechatronics all within a continuous flow of inventions, speculations and fantasies that integrate Marcel.lí’s plethora of dreams and freedom into reality.
