INTERVIEW Bettina Pelz
PUBLISHED 3 AUG 26
Héctor’s artistic pratice evolves across installation, sculpture, and performance, often using every-day materials such as clay and bricks, or – as we see in the video documentation he shares with us in Djerba – water and ice. He participated in the open call and we started to talk online, making plans for next year (2027) to have him on-site. This year’s contribution is the first step to a longer cooperation we are looking forward to.
// Which moment of the creative process do you enjoy the most?
the site visit is one of the moments that I enjoy lot, discovering, exploring, learning, watching, trying, walking around looking for elements to gestate the idea for my proposal, but also I enjoy lot the opening time when the artwork is ready and start to be in touch with the public, provoking them and through that interaction complete que artwork.
// How did your artistic practice develop?
It is a very organic process that can start with simple details from day-to-day life to a deeper reflection based on culture, people, architecture, art, books, cinema …
// You have been working as an artist for a while; what are the lessons learned over the years?
be fully aware and open to all that is around me, be curious, enjoy life
// Today, who or what influences your artistic research?
culture, day-by-day life
// Please describe the work you will bring to SEE DJERBA. What is the core idea?
it is a kind of ritual that use two very strong universal languages, food (ice cream) and music to generate a full experience that goes from dance and enjoy the music generated with the movements necessary to do ice cream in the mexican traditional hand made way to do it, to the moment to try the ice cream in a kind of ceremony, it is a celebration of life.
// In one of the interviews that I found online, you’ve said your works function as “catalysts, provocations, accidents” and compared them to planting a seed whose growth you can’t control. Can you share an example where the “life” a work took on after activation was meaningfully different from what you anticipated?
RE-volt is a clear example of that, to see all people trying ice cream like kids enjoying together the result of the action is one of the more magical moments that is complete a result of the public and performers interaction where I do not have any control.
// You’ve also highlighted your relationship with the people you work with builders, tradespeople, local communities and your appreciation for their skills as a base that “sustains societies.” How do you structure collaboration so that their knowledge visibly shapes the work, rather than just executing your plan?
it is because the structure of my artworks involve skill that normally are not related with art then the entire artwork depends of those skills and it brings the freedom to the participants to do what they use to do but bringing it to a new experience reflecting of those process and creating a new meaning being aware that in some of this small details is where the culture start
// Do you think that your artwork contributes to the long-term project of decolonizing our mindsets?
I hope
// Some of your projects involve collective actions. How do you think about authorship in those cases: are you a catalyst, co-author, or something else?
well i am the artist behind the idea and the structure but the result is a collective energy that only get meaning when it moves the public to materialize the idea and reflections of what they are feeling and reflecting
// What is a good audience for you?
all
// In 2016, you joined the CAIRO Biennial. What were your impressions of working on the African continent?
that time my participation was only with a video, but in 2019 I participate in an exhibition in São Tome and Pirincipe, there the interaction with the public was great and the project was reflecting about some issues related with the colonial times
// How did you find the SEE DJERBA community? And why did you decide to join?
I am very interested in cultures there is the seed that create my work, I am sure that SEE DJERBA will bring new ideas to can create a new project learning about local culture
// We would be so happy to see you in Djerba. When will you come?
in 2027 I hope
// We hope so, too, and will do everything to make it happen!