Doris Salcedo, Visiting Artist Lecture 2003

Doris Salcedo–an artist based in Colombia– gives a lecture at Skowhegan illustrating an interdisciplinary practice spanning installation, public projects, and sculpture. Salcedo’s practice is rooted in exploring ideas of collaboration and psychological violence. Salcedo further explores this concept of political and psychological violence, saying that her work attempts to make violent reality intelligible, through utilizing art as a medium to communicate these realities without words. Salcedo is interested in illuminating tragic experiences of violence through the perspective of the victim, tracing the marks left behind in the objects that have touched upon this violence. Salcedo talks about the importance of making work where contemplation, distance and indifference is not allowed. Salcedo reflects on the importance of examining situations and realities beyond just a comfortable distance. Salcedo says that it is essential for artists to find themselves entirely in that reality and to set themselves in a sensible disposition towards that reality. For Salcedo, a specific reality isn’t something one only contemplates, but something one has to commit themselves too. Salcedo ends her lecture by reflecting on the importance of combining the political and the private. When Salcedo attempts this, she also realizes knowledge and control are precarious tools to deal with everyday reality, and art can allow the stories she tackles to be seen through alleviating herself of the need to be powerful.