in Interviews | 15 JAN 06
Featured in
Issue 96

Allora & Calzadilla

Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla live and work in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They have forthcoming solo shows at The Moore Space, Miami and The Renaissance Society, Chicago.

in Interviews | 15 JAN 06

What images keep you company in the space where you work?

Whatever is around us – from a person making a fishing net, to a car with gigantic speakers mounted on its roof announcing that tomorrow it is going to rain. It all feels like an excess of company, which we like very much.

What was the first piece of art that really mattered to you?

We have always loved cave drawings, from the prehistoric ones in the caves of Lascaux to the contemporary graffiti inscribed on the walls of the caves in Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

What should change?

The ownership of the land in Vieques, Puerto Rico from a US Federal institution to the local municipality.

What should stay the same?

The possibility for the monstrous in things.

What is art for?

To do and undo things in the world.

What music are you listening to?

We like the wordplay and phonetic mutations Salsa generates. At the moment we are listening to ‘The Rabbit’s Hiccup’ by Marvin Santiago.

What are you reading?

We are reading about sweat glands, the collective decentralized intelligence of termites, and La Guaracha De Macho Camacho, (Macho Camacho’s Beat, 1976) by Luis Rafael Sanchez, a novel that takes place entirely in the time between a traffic light turning from red to green. And, of course, we always like the dictionary.

What do you like the look of?

The excess of foam in the mouth produced when speaking.

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