Black Hole
Artist:
Rolando Briseño
(American, born 1952)
Place made:United States
Date: 2000
Medium: Archival pigment print
Dimensions:
36 5/8 x 28 3/8 in. (93 x 72.1 cm)
framed: 45 1/4 x 37 in. (114.9 x 94 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, Gift of Dr. Rafael Guerra and Sandra Castro-Guerra
Object number: 2004.10
Signed: Signed in pencil, lower right: Rolando Briseno
Copyright: © Rolando Briseño
Inscribed: Titled in pencil lower center: Black Hole; numbered In pencil, lower left, 1/10
Label Text
"By representing the instruments of electronic communications and mass production, I signal the increasing impersonal quality of human relationships. However, by placing such forms on a table — a symbol of the stability of family, and celebration — I imply the possibility for the survival of human values amid the tumult of the contemporary world."
- Rolando Briseño
For several years, Briseño has used a format that he identifies as a 'tablescape,' a variation of traditional still life that serves as a compositional device for articulating ideas about the enduring value of family and community. In this example, Briseño has utilized digital technology to combine a number of symbolic images that represent various elements in the space/time continuum. In reference to the artist's own Latino heritage, the table setting is made up of traditional Mexican dinner plates, silverware, and checkered tablecloth, while the present day is alluded to at upper left by a common technological tool, a remote control. Shown spinning in a circular motion, these symbols revolve around a green gravitational field that circumscribes a black hole, at the core of which is a chicken, a link in the food chain that has been around for centuries and thus transcends the specificity of a particular time or place. Human beings, also part of the continually evolving DNA chain, are represented as stick figures on the dinner plates. Taken together, these images suggest a hopeful view of the human spirit as a universal and powerful life force that is strong enough to withstand the many threats to nature that lead to social, cultural, and environmental mutations, many of which have resulted from advances in technology.
(David Rubin, 2007)
- Rolando Briseño
For several years, Briseño has used a format that he identifies as a 'tablescape,' a variation of traditional still life that serves as a compositional device for articulating ideas about the enduring value of family and community. In this example, Briseño has utilized digital technology to combine a number of symbolic images that represent various elements in the space/time continuum. In reference to the artist's own Latino heritage, the table setting is made up of traditional Mexican dinner plates, silverware, and checkered tablecloth, while the present day is alluded to at upper left by a common technological tool, a remote control. Shown spinning in a circular motion, these symbols revolve around a green gravitational field that circumscribes a black hole, at the core of which is a chicken, a link in the food chain that has been around for centuries and thus transcends the specificity of a particular time or place. Human beings, also part of the continually evolving DNA chain, are represented as stick figures on the dinner plates. Taken together, these images suggest a hopeful view of the human spirit as a universal and powerful life force that is strong enough to withstand the many threats to nature that lead to social, cultural, and environmental mutations, many of which have resulted from advances in technology.
(David Rubin, 2007)
Not on view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
