INDEXACTION. stage design by consuelo castaneda. 2018 CREATIVE TIME SUMMIT ON ARCHIPELAGOS AND OTHER IMAGINARIES: COLLECTIVE STRATEGIES TO INHABIT THE WORLD. November 2 at the Knight Concert Hall – Adrienne Arsht Center. Miami
Stage design concept: Bilingual Index (English/ Spanish)
The stage design takes the premise that words are the basis from which ideas and concepts are built. Language permits index words, which appear, disappear, and can even persist, thus allowing attendees and speakers alike to analyze the evolution of a word through the proposal of different definitions.
During the presentations, the words on the banners serve to explain, amplify certain key concepts, to argue against them, to build on them or place them in contrast with each other. Thus, as the speakers are addressing the audience, the banners will serve to create unexpected associations between concepts, suggesting the intersectional nature of the Summit’s major thematics.
Moreover, the bilingual aspect of the banners serves to challenge the dominance of the English language. Indeed, throughout the Summit, we reflect upon the complexities of a multilingual art world, denaturalizing the prevalence of English, while at the same time stressing the ambiguities and inadequacies of translation.
Extending the space of the stage, banners are an attempt towards Indexical totality of the Summit’s key issues that at the same time reaches out to embrace all these concepts and reveals the impossibility of such a task and encourage the continuation of this exercise in the imagination of audiences near and far taking part in the conversations.
Miami-based, multi-disciplinary artist Consuelo Castañeda was commissioned to create a custom stage design for the 2018 #CTSummit. Indexaction (2018) creates unexpected associations between concepts, reflecting the intersectional nature of the Summit’s major thematics. pic.twitter.com/fhuanm7F8v
— Creative Time (@creativetime) November 2, 2018
Edwidge Danticat #CTSummit pic.twitter.com/rW2od5jcuU
— Tim Morton (@the_eco_thought) November 2, 2018
more about process: https://consuelocastaneda.net/project_category/cts2018-stage-design/