Orozco, Gabriel. Mobile Matrix (2006) and Sandstars (2012)
Orozco, Gabriel. Mobile Matrix, 2006.
Description: This gray whale’s remains were recovered in 2006 from Isla Arena in Guerrero Negro, Mexico where he beached himself. After oil was extracted from the skeleton, 6,000 pencils were used under Orozco’s supervision to draw concentric circles on the skeleton. A metal armature was created to reassemble the skeleton.
Orozco, Gabriel. Sandstars, 2012.
Description: Objects and debris collected by Orozco from Isla Arena, Mexico. This installation contains nearly 1,200 objects.
In this room, only two of Orozco’s pieces will be shown. His Mobile Matrix (2006) will be positioned hanging over his Sandstars (2012) installation of found objects. By placing these two pieces parallel to one another, it is expected that the viewer will relate the two. As the viewer witnesses the grandeur of the whale’s skeleton, they will also take in the variety of objects that lie beneath it. These objects, collected from a beach, consist of both manmade and natural items. The viewer will immediately notice that a very large portion of these objects is manmade‒ there are more bottles than there are stones. And, many of these objects pose a real threat to sea life. Though these objects comprise only a minuscule portion of the debris that might be found in our oceans, they take up more space than the skeleton of a whale. The sight of a whale’s skeleton hovering over this collection of objects should conjure thoughts about the loss of life in our oceans caused by human intrusions. How many skeletons are we responsible for?
