an angle grinder grinds
in the background
With the support of the Prince Claus Seed Award 2021, I have dedicated myself to restoring metalworking machines that belonged to my grandfather and father before they closed the family workshop in 2008. The intention is to unpack this heritage, freeing it from its modernist-capitalist framework, and conceive new possibilities for artistic production.
𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙
at Coco Hunday (Tampa, USA - May 6 - Aug 26) curated by Juniin duo, Juan Felipe Paredes and Libbi Ponce. The workshop acted as a catalyst for co-creating with artists Rafaela Armendaris, Lucas Neira, and Karin Iturralde. Photography by Jason Lazarus.Industrial designer Lucas Neira and I set out to understand the feeling of wonder we got when we went into the workshop. We quickly realised it was due to the dreams shared by our father as we grew up. Both of them share an upbringing during Ecuador´s Oil Boom and the gas-driven aspirations that came with it. Para los papás is an effigy; a celebration of those dreams but also a means to put them away.
Para los papás que nos llevaban al karting (For the fathers who used to take us to see kart races)
Alfredo Ramírez Raymond and Lucas Neira
AISI 1018 Carbon Steel, used copper plate from welding machine, mild steel plate, ratchet straps, stainless steel hardware, motor oil / 2022
Alfredo Ramírez Raymond and Lucas Neira
AISI 1018 Carbon Steel, used copper plate from welding machine, mild steel plate, ratchet straps, stainless steel hardware, motor oil / 2022
No somos tan ancestrales, Orejita con arete, María Fierrito, El metal en reposo se pone friecito, K and A on display
Orejita con arete (Little ear with earring)
Alfredo Ramírez Raymond and Karin Iturralde / Six threaded USD pennies, mechanized nickel and copper alloy from a USD half-dollar coin, USD dollar coin, USD quarter, USD dime, USD penny, rearview mirror, metal rod, hardware / 2023
No somos tan ancestrales
No somos tan ancestrales (We are not that ancestral)
Alfredo Ramírez Raymond and Rafaela Armendaris Parducci
AISI 1018 Carbon Steel, 304 stainless steel rods, stainless steel hardware, bronze hardware, metal cable, replica of archeological artifacts of the Chorrera Culture discovered by Rafaela’s grand aunt, Resfa Parducci / 2022
Alfredo Ramírez Raymond and Karin Iturralde / Six threaded USD pennies, mechanized nickel and copper alloy from a USD half-dollar coin, USD dollar coin, USD quarter, USD dime, USD penny, rearview mirror, metal rod, hardware / 2023
No somos tan ancestrales
No somos tan ancestrales (We are not that ancestral)
Alfredo Ramírez Raymond and Rafaela Armendaris Parducci
AISI 1018 Carbon Steel, 304 stainless steel rods, stainless steel hardware, bronze hardware, metal cable, replica of archeological artifacts of the Chorrera Culture discovered by Rafaela’s grand aunt, Resfa Parducci / 2022
No somos tan ancestrales
La obra surge como una pregunta acerca de las raíces migrantes guayaquileñas de Alfredo Ramírez Raymond y Rafaela Armendaris Parducci. Ambos artistas comparten historias similares: son nietos de inmigrantes, fabricantes y mercaderes que han trazado una línea directa de conocimiento táctil que se extiende hasta converger en esta obra. Sin embargo, las incógnitas acerca del significado de ese origen se mantienen abiertas ¿Cómo conciliar la herencia porteña y mercantil con un arte comprometido? ¿Se pueden desarmar las máquinas de producción capitalista para hacer arte?
Ramírez y Armendaris realizan su propia lectura del “ser guayaquileño” oponiendo manufactura y arqueología. De ahí que este encuentro se sintetice en una urna mecanizada en acero que atesora restos arqueológicos de la cultura Chorrera de San Pedro. La urna fue fabricada por los artistas a partir de técnicas para hacer repuestos y reparar maquinaria industrial en los mismos torno y fresadora utilizados por la familia Ramírez. Los restos arqueológicos que contiene la urna aparecieron tras una investigación de Armendaris acerca de su propia historia familiar. Fueron descubiertos por su tía, Resfa Parducci en el norte de Guayaquil.
“No somos tan ancestrales pero tampoco aculturados; somos una aleación de metales, arenas, y herencias que nunca se termina de fundir completamente. Esta obra pone en evidencia nuestro origen transculturado y la reivindicación del mismo como una fuente infinita para la creación”.
Original artifact of the Chorrera Culture dug up by Rafaela’ s grand aunt, Resfa Parducci
El acero en reposo se siente friecito (Resting metal feels cold-ish)
Alfredo Ramírez Raymond and Karin Iturralde
Mechanized nickel and copper alloy from two USD dimes, Alf’s 7-year-old workshop shirt, colored thread, galvanized square tube from Alf’s workshop, hardware / 2023
Alfredo Ramírez Raymond and Karin Iturralde
Mechanized nickel and copper alloy from two USD dimes, Alf’s 7-year-old workshop shirt, colored thread, galvanized square tube from Alf’s workshop, hardware / 2023
Maria Fierrito
Alfredo Ramírez Raymond and Karin Iturralde
Mechanized nickel and copper alloy from an Ecuadorian half-dollar coin, two USD half-dollar coins, plaster, galvanized steel screw, wire / 2023
Alfredo Ramírez Raymond and Karin Iturralde
Mechanized nickel and copper alloy from an Ecuadorian half-dollar coin, two USD half-dollar coins, plaster, galvanized steel screw, wire / 2023
K & A
Alfredo Ramírez Raymond and Karin Iturralde
Mechanized nickel and copper alloy from t
Alfredo Ramírez Raymond and Karin Iturralde
Mechanized nickel and copper alloy from t
wo USD half-dollar coins, plaster, galvanized steel screw, wire / 2023