Monumental concrete circle on a lava field; Espacio Escultórico (Sculpture Space)
The Espacio Escultórico, in the south of Mexico City, is a monumental ring of 64 concrete wedges enclosing a large area of petrified lava. Each wedge stands 4m high and is arranged in four quarters around a raised circular platform, measuring 120m in diameter.
Sited on the campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and within the Reserva Ecológica del Pedregal* de San Ángel (REPSA), it is an impressive space, peaceful and sacred-feeling. Although obviously man-made, it appears comfortable in its location of tumbling lava fields and wild flowers.
People and nature appear comfortable with it, too; students from the nearby UNAM, or families visiting, clamber on the wedges, walk along the tezontle gravelled platform or study perched upon the lava rocks in the central area.
Over the years the space has been used for many collective gatherings of people; concerts, performances and to mark special days such as the Day of the Dead, or eclipses.
The Espacio Escultórico project was started by Dr. Jorge Carpizo and Guillermo Soberon to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the independence of the National University in 1979.
“en la primera mitad del siglo XX las artes plásticas en México registraron un movimiento que fue la pintura mural. En la segunda mitad del siglo nos encontramos con el movimiento escultórico geométrico monumental, iniciado a fines de los años cincuenta. Si el primer movimiento fue expresión de la revolución mexicana, este segundo movimiento busca sus apoyos en la tradición y en la vanguardia de nuestro país para apoyar la modernización de México”
“in the first half of the twentieth century, the movement of visual arts in Mexico was mural painting. In the second half of the century we find the monumental geometric sculptural movement, begun in the late fifties. If the first movement was an expression of the Mexican revolution, this second movement seeks its support in tradition and at the forefront of our country to support the modernization of Mexico.”
Espacio Escultórico was developed collectively by Helen Escobedo, Manuel Felguérez, Matias Goeritz, Hersúa, Sebastián and Federico Silva who created the Manifiesto del Espacio Escultórico (Manifesto of the Sculpture Space) stating:
“Quienes participamos en el proyecto universitario del Espacio Escultórico hemos intentado poner en práctica principios olvidados por cientos de años: buscar hacer del arte un gran acontecimiento para todos y para siempre, superando, al menos en esta experiencia, el voluntarismo individualista autosuficiente y caduco.
Si a los artistas que formamos este equipo de trabajo no le sobre vive alguna de sus obras, el Espacio Escultórico, por todo lo que tiene de oculto y anónimo, habrá de perdurar como el intento colectivo de arte público más importante de los últimos años.”
“Those who participate in the university project Sculpture Space have tried to put into practise principles forgotten for hundreds of years: looking to make art a great event for all and forever, overcoming, at least in this experience, [the idea of?] individualistic voluntarism and self-sufficiency.
If the artists who make make up this group do not live on, some of their work, the Sculpture Space, for all that is hidden and anonymous, will endure as the most important collective effort in recent years of public art.”
Two of the main ideas of the work; the shape of the wedges and the idea to expose the central area to reveal the volcanic rocks was always asserted collectively, with no single artist claiming them:
“La paternidad concreta de los módulos fue siempre cuidadosamente ocultada por los escultores, de ahí que nadie haya tomado en serio la adjudicación, sin pruebas, hecha en favor de Hersúa (por cierto, el de menor trayectoria en el grupo) por un crítico de la época: el peruano Juan Acha, avecindado en México.
Lo innegable, en cambio, fue el consenso establecido entre ellos, no sólo en ese aspecto medular, sino también ante la idea de Felguérez para que se desyerbara la lava solidificada.”
“The origin of the concrete modules idea was always carefully hidden by the sculptors, hence, no one ever took it seriously when this was attributed, without evidence, to Hersúa (who, incidentally, is the one with the shortest career in the group) by a critic of the time: Peruvian Juan Acha, settled in Mexico.
What was undeniable, however, was the consensus established among them, not only in that core aspect, but also regarding Felguérez’s idea that the solidified lava should be weeded with the purpose of unveiling the primordial nature of the site.”
Ariel view of Espacio Escultórico
The final construction was undertaken by the director or works at UNAM and the architect Raúl Kobe.
Examples of the artists’ individual works can be found close by on the Paseo de las Esculturas o Sendero Escultórico (Sculpture Walk or Sculpture Trail).
*The area known as El Pedregal was created from the lava from the eruption of the Xitle volcano in 280 AD (xictli = tummy button in the Aztec language, Nahuatl).
More info
The nearest metro station is ‘Universidad’, Linea 3 (green)
Ref
Sánchez Macgrégor, Joaquín (2007) “A treinta años del Espacio Escultórico” Revista de la Universidad de México. Nueva época. Noviembre 2007, No. 45 [Consulta: 23 Oct 2015].
Ramírez, Oscar (2012) “El Espacio Escultórico de la UNAM, microcosmos entre roca” [Consulta: 23 Oct 2015].
