“Many of the most emblematic pieces of the 1960s involved fragile materials and destructive processes
to question the centrality and limits of the artistic object. The durability of these pieces depends on a job that often goes unmentioned in exhibitions:
the conservation and restoration of works of art.
To highlight the importance of these efforts, the artist Joaquín Aras made a film in collaboration with
the Museo Moderno’s Conservation Department.
To illuminate the inherent changes in the materiality
of the works of art, in Cenizas quedan [Ashes Remain], Aras uses strategies from the formalist and experimental cinema of the 1960s (such as the incendiary textures
of Stan Brakhage and Hollis Frampton, and the empty projections of David Lamelas), which are accompanied by the voice of Pino Monkes, Head of Conservation
at the museum. The film focuses on a collage by Américo Spósito that is made with burnt paper.
Using a loop that goes from the creation to the dematerialisation of the work of art, Aras presents
an endless cycle that reflects on the persistence of art over time.”

Text from curator Patricio Orellana
This project was produced thanks to Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires.

Voice: Pino Monkes
Camera: Juan Renau, Joaquín Aras
Lighting: Viviana Gil
Prop Master: Mariu Fermani
Sound: Jorge Espinal