Corn and Industry

Monumental yet satirical sculptures on the post-industrial era and the chaos caused by the desire for progress. This exhibition catalog gathers an important selection of sculptures and installations from Mexican artist Damián Ortega (born 1967). Ortega contrasts the concepts of cultivation and industrialization to tell an alternative story of the Mayan myth of creation. With José Esparza Chong Cuy as curator, readers are taken on a guided journey through the artist’s work, focusing on two concepts that function as metaphors throughout the journey: Cultivation and harvesting and industrialization processes. Reflexively, Ortega contrasts these concepts to tell an alternative story of the Mayan myth of creation – where corn is the origin of humanity – to reach the globalized post-industrial era and the chaos caused by longed-for progress. The concepts articulate the notions of energy, transformation, ecosystem and technology, the latter understood as a set of knowledge, instruments and technical resources that man has implemented to influence the world. 227 illustrations