Gabriel Orozco: "Spanish Lessons" | "Exclusive" | Art21

[Gabriel Orozco: "Spanish Lessons"]

¿Solo par a saber quien habla español?

¿Mas bien quien no habla nada español?

One, two, three...kind of...

four, five...

Okay, so I'm going to do it

mostly in Spanish.

[ALL LAUGH]

The other thing is, like,

why we have this class [LAUGHS]

in Spanish lessons.

[CONTINUES SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

I try to open up

many levels of exchange

and communication and research,

and art became a kind of teaching aid

to serve the purpose of teaching Spanish.

It was very open,

artists giving different types

of lectures, conversations,

and workshops.

And then also, we did funny things,

like karaoke.

[SINGING IN SPANISH]

[Class is in Session. Please do not disturb.
Gracias!]

[SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

We have the constant teaching of Spanish

every day, from 11 to 6.

The classes were for free.

[BOTH SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

[BOTH LAUGH]

We are in a gallery uptown,

57th Street.

This space is on

the lower floor of the gallery--

the third floor.

All interactions in New York

tend to be mostly through the market,

and through the institutions--

and that is not good.

Inserting a moment

in a commercial gallery

is saying that it's not just about

the object as a commodity--

that you can just come and shop,

but that you can learn,

you can acquire knowledge,

you can exchange knowledge,

it's a different system of interaction--

of exchange between people.

I think it was interesting to me

to see what happens

if you expose the public

that comes to these types of exhibitions

to make an effort to try understand

or to try to speak Spanish.

[SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

Spanish is the second language

in this country,

and probably in the future

will be the first language.

But people still use it

just for street talk,

or to ask for a taco in the corner shop,

but still,

I don't think--

I don't feel--

that Spanish has a proper status

in the infrastructure of knowledge.

It's very common to hear

people quoting Borges, for example,

because he has been a writer

that has been very influential

for art writing

and literature in general.

But, not many people have really

read Borges in Spanish--

not even listen to lecture

of Borges, which are amazing.

Meaning changes when you translate,

so for me,

to read Borges in Spanish

is a fundamental thing--

it's a privilege.

So, I think that was interesting

to try to expose people,

but also to

maybe get some reading,

get some information.

We are not acting here.

We are really learning

and teaching

and in an exchange between artists.

[SPEAKING IN SPANISH]