Protei-formalism

MAC/SAN’s vision will be implemented through the experimentation of different art forms including: Sculpture (MAC/SAN Building), MAC/SAN TV, Print Media and Web, and a platform for participation.

SCULPTURE- MAC/SAN Building 
MAC/SAN was born when Stefan Shankland, Candelario and Erik Göngrich appropriated an existing unfinished building - a 60 by 25 by 8 meter concrete structure - located in the heart of San Agustín. The sculptural gesture of installing a “MAC/SAN” sign on top of the abandoned building questions the relationship between form and meaning. Inviting artists to think about the building as a context for their own artwork further encourages the examination of its “function”, also introducing its potential as a viewing device to examine the surrounding neighbourhood. This activity also transforms the building de facto into a museum. Its architecture ironically embodies the traditional “cube” that hosts many modern and contemporary museums. Beyond the conceptual positioning of the MAC/SAN Building as a sculpture, the site will play host to events, workshops and a series of installations. The installation projects include: a model for a utopian approach to housing and city planning; prototypes of fruit dryers; and a shadow house that will be used as a meeting, production and exchange area.

MAC/SAN TV 
Candelario, Aurélie Sampeur and Catherine Sicot will invite video artists, architects, and journalists to create broadcasts available during the Biennial. Using the USB stick as a means of dissemination, MAC/SAN TV formalizes a very specific Cuban phenomenon. The global digital revolution has not resulted in broad access to high speed connection on the island since internet access is still very limited, and web navigation slow. However, it did happen on its own terms through mobile access to USB sticks. Indeed, information, software and movies circulate at a fast speed in Cuba through this little object. The new MAC/SAN TV channel will “broadcast” locally through USB as well as through the internet for a broader public. More than documenting research done in the new museum, MAC/SAN TV will be used as a medium, resulting in the creation of innovative programs that will explore the relationships between art, environment, territory and heritage.

PRINT MEDIA AND WEB
Communication is both a tool and a form of MAC/SAN. Along with MAC/SAN TV, participating artists will develop different projects, individually and collectively, using print material including posters and maps to guide visitors through various existing or invented landmarks of San Agustín. A newspaper will also be available for the public of the Biennial and the inhabitants of San Agustín, as well as a website online. These media will feature artists’ projects and regular up-dates on MAC/SAN´s reflections and actions.

PLATFORM OF PARTICIPATION
Finally, MAC/SAN invites local groups, and individuals as well as biennial visitors to use its many platforms as sites for making, showing, dialoguing and learning. MAC/SAN is currently developing relationships with these groups that will culminate in a set of public outcomes visible during the Biennial.
See Art Works and Research Projects