Oswaldo Maciá (CO), Chris Bean (IR) and Emilia Leszkowicz.(PL)
Corruption and Consciousness, 2020-2022
Hosted by: Centrum Sztuki Współczesnej ŁAŹNIA, Poland // BOZAR Brussels, Belgium // Cluj, Romania.

Transcription below by Erich Weiss of the testimony of Oswaldo Maciá during an interview by zoom on the 21st of February 2022.

Oswaldo’s work consists of sculptural installations composed of images, objects, sounds and smells, that create a space for meditation. His work investigates our often too conventional notions of experience, knowledge, and perception. Searching for the limits of our sensibility he creates a personal universe that questions our consciousness. How open are we to experience the universe we live in? If our planet talks to us, are we able to listen to what he is telling us?

Oswaldo Maciá: ‘I am just back in London after installing my first participation in the travelling exhibition. Łaźnia Centre for Contemporary Art (Gdansk, Poland), after will be Bozar, Centre for Fine Arts (Brussels, Belgium) and Cluj Cultural Centre (Romania) that is set up in the context of the Studiotopia experiment’.
I was invited to be part of this adventure by the director of the place where the exhibition takes place: Laznia Centre for Culture in Gdansk, Ms. Agnieszka Kulazinska brought me in contact with two fascinating scientists. They were selected out of a list of seven and perfectly matched my interests. The first is Chris Bean, a physician (Head of Geophysics at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies) specialized in vulcanology. He is a scientist who listens and analyses the sounds of the earth. So, he has a very special approach and a specific understanding of our planet’s secrets. The other one is an electrophysiologist, Emilia Leskowicz, who explores our inner world and tries to hear our inner voices, studying the processing of neurons. Both scientists have this obsession with listening and translating what they hear into a language, a code, that they can transmit. They are listening to ‘voices’, sounds we are not aware of.

Calling the project ‘Corruption and Consciousness’ I wanted to ask in how far we were conscious of what is happening to our environment. Do we realize as humans to which extent our climate, our living conditions are corrupted? Do we listen, smell the damage? Or do we prefer to be ignorant and blind?

To complete the experience of this trilogy of senses, smell, sound, vision. I created in collaboration with Senior Perfumer Ricardo Moya. [International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.] a two particular scent named ‘Corruption and Consciousness’ The smell was transported in the space by means of textiles waving from ventilators but could also be experienced in the form of two soaps, presented in two bell jars.

This site-specific installation was dominated by a monumental backdrop: a fresco drawing in sinopia. The roots I painted on the wall with this natural earth pigment, signify for me our sense of connectivity as humans. The piece is complete with a record LP, containing sound composition.

‘The illness of consciousness is corruption – my work is a call to smell, listen and think’