Íntimo (Timor vitae) 1999

Editor: Francis Naranjo’s "Íntimo (Timor vitae)," made in 1999, appears to be a site-specific photographic work. It strikes me as very architectural, playing with light and space. What is your interpretation of this work? Curator: From a materialist perspective, it is useful to consider how this image functions. Photography, here, isn’t just representational; it's fundamentally involved in constructing a particular spatial experience. Think about the labor involved in not only staging these scenes, but also how it comments on the structures of display in galleries and museums. The photographic image is only a fragment that documents and represents something else, a set of labor and processes of spatial design. What impact do you think the use of geometric forms has? Editor: They make the space feel very calculated and almost sterile, maybe highlighting a commentary on minimalism and consumer culture in art spaces? It definitely creates an austere environment. Curator: Precisely! Naranjo challenges the boundary between art and architectural design, presenting a photograph *of* a constructed space, questioning what is art object and how much labor goes into creating the illusion of pristine geometric order in display. Does it strike you that the cool tonality contributes a specific effect, or perhaps emotion to the installation's documentation? Editor: Yes, the cooler tones, especially the blues, further that sense of calculated, even manufactured, tranquility, rather than organic peace. It detaches the viewer further from the "íntimo," the intimate. The lighting becomes almost artificial with these colors, right? Curator: Yes. Now we understand how even what we see as calm has often been constructed via precise technologies and production methods! What did you think about this aspect of production? Editor: I didn’t originally, but focusing on materials makes me see the artwork not as one single "click" from the camera but more as a documentation of extensive labor. That it really helps highlight that art isn’t separate from its physical creation. Curator: Exactly. The real object here may well be the physical installation *and* its associated methods of production and exhibition. A revealing detail!