Martin Soto Climent

The Equation of Desire

1 July – 2 September 2012

Martin Soto Climent (*1977, lives and works in Mexico City) almost exclusively uses objects found in the surroundings of venues in which he exhibits. As a result of a simple intervention or being put into an unexpected position, these objects are allowed to reveal an aesthetic potential within the museum, before later returning to their previous everyday use and function.
In the two smaller rooms of Kunsthalle, this artistic strategy is given centre stage and ephemeral installations have been produced. The main feature, however, is The Equation of Desire, shown for the very first time and occupying the entire main hall. This work is the outcome of Martin Soto Climent’s efforts to recognise, name and organise all the relevant and substantial aspects of his own life. Starting from this very personal standpoint, the research soon became an investigation into universal questions of life; it became a series of diagrams about the human condition and also a series of 366 photographs.
All of the photographs emerge from a similar process: Soto Climent rolls-up different pages of vintage photographic yearbooks in such a way that a new and surprising image arises. Being a combination of a number of pictures, the result is reminiscent of a collage, but with one essential distinction: the original pictures are neither damaged nor destroyed by being cut up, but just unravel back into their original shape after the shot. The whole process thus results in an ephemeral picture that will disappear again and only remains in the picture taken by the artist. At the same time the photographs become samples of hidden and unseen pictures that are contained in what surrounds us, pictures that can come to life by a minimal and reversible human act. They are indeed ciphers for the existence of vast potential in the world, a potential that can be harnessed by human creativity.

Oliver Kielmayer