2019_03_29_mun-fluidsnavarra

More than one hundred volunteers participated in Fluids Navarra, the happening held on the esplanade of the Museo Universidad de Navarra. Directed by the artist Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle and the students of the Master in Curatorial Studies The artistic meeting , open to all citizens, consisted in the construction of a rectangular structure of ice.

The work measured 7.25 meters long, 2.25 meters wide and 1.81 meters high. In total, 400 blocks of ice have been used, totaling 8,000 kilos of this material, which have been produced specifically for this project. It is a reinvention of the work Fluids ( 1967) by the American artist Allan Kaprow, who coined the concept of happening.

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, also a professor at Master's Degree, explained that Fluids Navarra is "something very complicated in its simplicity. The idea is to build walls with work and everyday material, that is, to build a wall that speaks of the difference between the world of art and everyday life. And by melting, both become the same for a moment". He also points out that he intends to "melt the definitions between who is the artist and the public, the work and its audience".

Precisely this work invites us to reflect on where art resides or if there is an object. "All these questions are complicated in an ephemeral work that, after all, is not an object, but an proposal and an event. It is more than an artistic work because it involves working together."

María Díaz Banet, a student at Master's Degree and spokesperson for the Fluids Navarra volunteers, expressed her gratitude to the artist, the Museum and all the volunteers "from the University, the Pamplona School of Art and the city for making this possible project". Díaz pointed out that as students it has been a "unique experience" in which they have been present all along the way: "It is not only a theoretical process at an artistic level, but also has a lot of logistics behind it".

For his part, Jaime García del Barrio, director general of the Museo Universidad de Navarra, pointed out that "it has not only been a project of artistic creation, but also of artistic reflection. We have been fortunate to work with Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, who has been linked to the Museum since before its inauguration". He also stressed that the project is part of the training of the Master in Curatorial Studies, which is based on the Philosophy of "learning by working, not only theoretical classes but projects like this one".

Fluids Navarra could be visited free of charge and has disappeared with the thawing of the material.