Description

Catalogue of the site-specific project The Democracy of the Symbol , carried out by the Argentine artist Leandro Erlich at the Obelisk of Buenos Aires and presented on the esplanade of Malba between September 2015 and March 2016.

The intervention on the Obelisk of Buenos Aires fulfilled a long-held dream of Leandro Erlich: to work on the city's iconic building. Two essays were specially commissioned for the publication. Christian Ferrer, an Argentine sociologist specializing in urban semiotics, reviews the history of the monument and its diverse political meanings. The American critic and curator Dan Cameron focuses on Erlich's work and analyzes the nature of his particular type of "illusionism." Also included is an interview with the artist conducted by Agustín Pérez Rubio, in which the curator explores Erlich's career and his special interest in site-specific works. All the texts are illustrated with photographs of the monument: anonymous archival images, and works by other artists such as Horacio Coppola, Grete Stern, Sara Facio, and Marta Minujín.

The construction section features photographs documenting the project's production process, from the work in Erlich's workshops to the placement of the replica on the museum's esplanade, and includes an image of the "decapitated" obelisk. A central fold-out provides access to the panoramic view one would have from inside the pyramid.

"At the very top there are four windows, each facing a different cardinal point. The Obelisk thus has a radial and panoptic face, like the cyclopes of old, 'those who look all around them'. That is the nature of power: to see without being seen." —Christian Ferrer

Authors
Christian Ferrer
Dan Cameron
Agustín Pérez Rubio

Technical specifications
Published by: Malba
Year: 2015
Type: Exhibition catalog
Binding: Hardcover
Dimensions: 28 x 18 cm
Weight: 900 gr
Spanish
Pages: 194
ISBN: 978-987-1271-65-8