Santiago Sierra(V)
- Actor
Sierra studied art in Madrid, at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg from 1989 to 1991 with B. J. Blume and in Mexico City. He has lived there since 1995. In the art scene, but also in the public eye, he became known for his critical, radical, provocative, confrontational and controversial methods and representations with which he carries out his actions and installations. Sierra's work focuses on political, social, social and environmental issues. In his works he often integrates the viewer and his role in the work of art, which he often abolishes - in the traditional distribution of subject and object as a work of art. In this way, reactions from the audience themselves become part of the work of art. Santiago Sierra often took photos or video films of his actions and installations, which are presented to the public at exhibitions.
The artist wanted to raise awareness of traffic and environmental pollution with one of his earlier actions when he blocked an intersection in Mexico City in 1998, bringing traffic to a standstill. Three years later, at the opening of the Venice Biennale, he presented 133 immigrants who had their hair dyed blonde for $60. Santiago Sierra wanted to draw critical attention to the treatment of immigrants. This topic also included the Gibraltar campaign in Spain in 2002: he paid African immigrants to dig holes in the ground. A year later, at the Venice Biennale, he arranged for the Spanish pavilion to be open only to those who could present a Spanish passport. His "Project 345 cubic meters" in Stommeln near Cologne in 2006 was extremely provocative. There he piped car exhaust fumes into a synagogue. In this way he turned the Jewish church into a gas chamber.
Santiago Sierra's intention was to warn against a stylized trivialization of the Holocaust, but also against the instrumental abuse of feelings of guilt. The action provoked numerous protests, including from the Central Council of Jews, and ultimately led to its premature termination. With his 2007 project "21 Anthropometric Modules made from Human Faeces by the People of Sulabh International, India", Sierra criticized the art industry itself. He had members of the Indian untouchable caste work with feces to create them. They received no compensation for this unpleasant effort. By selling the work of art, Santiago Sierra wanted to show that art itself exploits the poor of the poorest.
The artist wanted to raise awareness of traffic and environmental pollution with one of his earlier actions when he blocked an intersection in Mexico City in 1998, bringing traffic to a standstill. Three years later, at the opening of the Venice Biennale, he presented 133 immigrants who had their hair dyed blonde for $60. Santiago Sierra wanted to draw critical attention to the treatment of immigrants. This topic also included the Gibraltar campaign in Spain in 2002: he paid African immigrants to dig holes in the ground. A year later, at the Venice Biennale, he arranged for the Spanish pavilion to be open only to those who could present a Spanish passport. His "Project 345 cubic meters" in Stommeln near Cologne in 2006 was extremely provocative. There he piped car exhaust fumes into a synagogue. In this way he turned the Jewish church into a gas chamber.
Santiago Sierra's intention was to warn against a stylized trivialization of the Holocaust, but also against the instrumental abuse of feelings of guilt. The action provoked numerous protests, including from the Central Council of Jews, and ultimately led to its premature termination. With his 2007 project "21 Anthropometric Modules made from Human Faeces by the People of Sulabh International, India", Sierra criticized the art industry itself. He had members of the Indian untouchable caste work with feces to create them. They received no compensation for this unpleasant effort. By selling the work of art, Santiago Sierra wanted to show that art itself exploits the poor of the poorest.