Aitor Ortiz

Aitor Ortiz - link 004

Technique: Photographic print on hahnemuhle paper, frame

Artist Biography: Bilbao, Spain. 1971 Beyond the documentary photography of architecture and industry, claiming the dilution factor and the transmutation of reality that is associated with photographic representation, Aitor Ortiz works with space, architecture and objects as elements that give rise to a series of visual and cognitive unknowns. Ortiz is repeatedly interested in posing a series of dilemmas between representation and interpretation (perception) and establishes a relationship between the content of his images, the physical properties of the materials on which he reproduces his work and the position of the pieces in the exhibition space. Aitor Ortiz seeks to establish a broad spectrum of works and the relationships between the photographed places, the conscious and subconscious mechanisms involved in the process of manipulating an image: the eye (interpretation, framing, contextualization...), the camera (focus/blur, optical distortion, transmission of movement...) and the brain (the limitations of an imperfect artifact in the interpretation of data and empirical abilities: experience, association of concepts...) that culminate in the exhibition space, where the physical experience once again transcends the content of his photographs as part of a process of constant interaction between representation and the viewer's perception. Among his latest solo exhibitions are those held by the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (2011); Fotografiska (Swedish Museum of Photography, Stockholm, 2012) and the Community of Madrid at the Sala Canal de Isabel II, Madrid (2012). His work has earned him, among others, the City of Palma Award, the ABC Photography Award, Grand Prize of Honor at the Biennale of Art of Alexandria (Egypt), First Prize Villa de Madrid of photography. His works are part of collections such as MNCARS, Fundación La Caixa, ARTIUM, CAB, IVAM, AXXA, Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, MACUF, Foto Colectania, Fundación Telefónica, etc.

 

The urban regeneration of the Zorrotzaurre industrial area in Bilbao has led to the recent relocation of the VICINAY chain factory after more than 60 years of activity. This marine chain factory, which has defined the urban landscape of the area, has produced, link after link, nearly 10,000 km of chain (the equivalent of the distance separating the cities of Bilbao and Beijing). This has contributed in a decisive way to the definition of a territory and the economic development of the area, generating wealth for four generations of families and creating a bond between the two cities. four generations of families and creating a link with society. This work is a gesture, a transmission of this legacy of years of production, creation and social repercussion. A staging that, from the absence, makes us reflect on the importance that this production center has had in the definition of its own emotional landscape: "The memory of the place". The aim is to activate the memory through the space and the actions that have taken place in it over the years, impregnating the factory facilities by sublimating the forms with which it has lived. The works resulting from this work re-establish the factory's link with society, visible in the deformations and wrinkles caused by the dragging of thousands of tons of chains across the plant's original steel floors for more than sixty years, as a metaphor for its activity. The image as footprint - the footprint as image