Pia Cruzalegui

Chicago, IL

PALO SANTO. GARÚA. ROMERÍA. (trans. Palo santo. Pilgrimage. Mist.)

Mixed media, two channel video, sound, and rain drops.

In The Library of Babel, Jorge Luis Borges proposes that in the infinite library, books are composed of symmetrically arranged typography in very black ink, and that the texts are made up of the twenty-two letters of the alphabet, along with the period and the comma. Borges also defines humans as the “imperfect librarian.” The library is the universe. But is this universe personal?

Palo santo. Garúa. Romería. (trans. Palo santo. Pilgrimage. Mist.) is part of a series of works that transpose oral narratives and, much like the Borgesian library, are constructed chaotically, with fragmented narratives. When I began this series, I revisited unfinished personal stories and reread Borges, whose literature has captivated my imagination since adolescence.

This work is one of many in which I observe oral histories that come to life once again, transforming from memory into incoherent images, letters, words, and phrases separated only by periods, commas, and spaces. It is a story without a beginning that, on its path toward infinity, pauses or lingers to capture an absurd present, in an attempt to explain a personal universe.

(Spanish)

En la Biblioteca de Babel por Jorge Luis Borges se plantea que en la biblioteca infinita los libros están compuestos de tipografía simétrica de tinta muy negra y los textos compuestos de las veintidós letras del alfabeto, el punto y la coma. Borges también define al humano como el “imperfecto bibliotecario.” La biblioteca es el universo. Pero, ¿es este universo personal?

Palo santo. Garua. Romería. (trans. Palo santo. Pilgrimage. Mist.) es parte de una serie de obras que transpone relatos orales y que tal como la biblioteca borgiana -o el universo- se construye de manera caótica con narrativas fragmentadas e inconexas. Al comenzar esta serie, repasé cuentos personales inconclusos y releí a Borges, cuya literatura ha cautivado mi imaginación desde la adolescencia. 

Esta obra es una de tantas en las que observó narrativas heredadas que cobran nueva vida desde la memoria a imágenes incoherentes, a letras, palabras, frases separadas tan solo por puntos, comas y espacios. Es una historia sin principio que, en su trayecto hacia la infinitud, se detiene o se demora para capturar un presente mezquino e ilógico, en un intento de explicar un universo personal.

Artist Bio

Pia Cruzalegui is a South American artist born in Lima, Peru, where she spent her entire childhood. Her work is deeply rooted in diverse personal heritage and cultural experiences. Her interdisciplinary practice is focused on digital media, installation, and curatorial arts. She received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA in Video, Film and Multimedia from Florida Atlantic University. Pia has exhibited in the US and abroad. Some acknowledgements include a 2019 award from the Ministerio de Cultura y Patrimonio of Ecuador and a commissioned video documentation project, American Tales in the Making, funded by the National Endowment of the Arts’ Big Read -- archived at the Freeport Art Museum, in Illinois. Pia is producer and host of the Oral Fixation Art Podcast where she has conversations with contemporary artists.