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Commission on Display
Mónica Alcázar-Duarte's installation T’aabal T’aabal chukChuuk / Embers consists of fifty-six 3D printed lilies, coated in copper leaf and activated through an augmented reality experience. The work was commissioned by Autograph and the Hasselblad Foundation. The installation can now be experienced as part of the Foundation's new exhibition Bugs & Metamorphosis: Glitching Photography.
Using an algorithm inspired by the collective intelligence of Mayan bee colonies, Alcázar-Duarte merges and juxtaposes the form of the lily with faces, gestures and expressions depicted in 18th-century Casta paintings, a genre of art made in Mexico during Spanish colonialism, illustrating racist social hierarchies. These illustrations were used during the colonisation of Mexico to differentiate individuals into a caste system and as justification to discriminate against mestizaje (mixed-race) populations.
The lilies form a garden of technology which can be activated by scanning the floor drawing mapping the Yúcatan Peninsula, to trigger an augmented reality animation of a tree which seemingly grows out from the Peninsula into the room. T’aabal chukChuuk / Embers highlights the value of ancestral indigenous knowledge as passed down through nature and raises crucial questions, such as: Where does knowledge lie? Who and what is classified? How do we refute these legacies?
Hasselblad Center Exhibition Hall Gothenburg Art Museum
Götaplatsen 6
412 56 Göteborgn
Find directions, opening hours, accessibility and ticketing information on Hasselblad Foundation's website
T’aabal chukChuuk / Embers installed at Autograph in 2024
Mónica Alcázar-Duarte is originally from Mexico, of indigenous descent, she lives and works in the U.K. Becoming a migrant shaped her way of seeing and thinking, and it deeply shapes her practice.
She has been awarded the Ampersand-Photoworks Residency (2021), Firecracker Grant (2020), Lucie Foundation Chroma Luxe scholarship (2019), National Geographic Wayfinder Award (2022), National Geographic Arena Award (2019), Les Recontres d’Arles New Discovery Award (2018), and The Photographers’ Gallery Bar-Tur Photobook Award (2017). Her works included in public collections at Autograph, London, Museum of Modern Art artist book collection, New York, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and Wilhelm Hack Museum, Germany amongst others. She lives and works in London.
Highlighting five key motifs from the exhibition
Read blog post | 4 min read
The artist in conversation with exhibition curator Bindi Vora
Read blog post | 12 min read
Mónica Alcázar-Duarte was the 2022 Autograph / Light Work artist-in-residence
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View our online gallery of Mónica Alcázar-Duarte's series Second Nature
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Mónica Alcázar-Duarte discusses her new photography and research
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Take a closer look at Alcázar-Duarte's work exploring ecology, indigenous knowledge and western botany systems
Find out more T'aabal chukChuuk / Embers (2024) is commissioned by Autograph, London and Hasselblad Foundation, Gothenburg.
Banner and artwork detail images: Mónica Alcázar-Duarte, T’aabal chukChuuk / Embers pictured in the exhibition Mónica Alcázar-Duarte: Digital Clouds Don't Carry Rain at Autograph. 16 February - 1 June 2024. Curated by Bindi Vora. Photograph by Kate Elliott.
About the artist: Mónica Alcázar-Duarte. Photo by Michael Breakey.
Autograph is a place to see things differently. Since 1988, we have championed photography that explores issues of race, identity, representation, human rights and social justice, sharing how photographs reflect lived experiences and shape our understanding of ourselves and others.
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