« Your Own Matter is The Confluence of All Things » – Francisco Navarrete Sitja at Le Becque (Switzerland)

With the support of Pro Helvetia, Francisco Navarrete Sitja (Chile, 1986) developed, between July and September 2019, the set of works entitled « Your Own Matter is The Confluence of All Things » during his stay at the Le Becque Residence, Switzerland. Through intense fieldwork that involved image capturing, soundscape design, research in archives, and literature, Navarrete built a post-human perspective that was able to glimpse the complex relationship between nature, machinery, and territories. 

Focusing on materials that, despite the human actions, have independent flows, such as floating logs, fog, water reflections, and clouds, the Chilean artist chose Lake Geneva and its antagonistic ecosystem to create connections between the construction of the socio-territorial imaginary between Switzerland and Chile, questioning the hegemonic representation of landscape and discussing socio-political problems such as the nationalization of nature, the invisibilization of indigenous communities and the very idea of « nation ».

During the residency period, Navarrete expanded its line of artistic and social research and, in contact with historians, philosophers, anthropologists, hydrologists, geologists, and other artists who are also dedicated to the reflections on organic and artificial interactions and the coexistence between humanity and nature, expanding his network.

With the invitation of the 14th Biennial of Mediales Art – El Cuarto Mundo (The Fourth World)- he exhibited the video « Jardines Humanos » (Human Gardens), part of the research conducted in Le Becque, at the Recoleta Dominica Heritage Library in Chile. His immersion was also supported by the University of Rio Negro, Argentina, with the support of Paula Gabriela Núñez, a researcher in geo-humanities and Espai 10: Laboratorio de Artes Contemporáneas, from Spain, with the support of Luz Muñoz, critic, curator, and researcher in art and ecology.