VIVIAN GALBAN: REAL TIME IMAGE ARCHITECTURE

Upon entering the darkroom, the viewer's vision is completely lost until he or she perceives the characteristic red light of the developing room and three trays. Using a brush, the artist randomly combs the image to achieve a strictly manual copying process.

The result is very different from what one would think of when using a digital medium, since this shot gives back to the subject who is observing the process a way of looking very distant from the current one, especially because the shots are taken without glasses.

The copy undergoes a fixation process, then drying and, once the lights are turned on, the image is captured with the cell phone. Once dried, the image is integrated into a gallery where all the shots are gathered.

At the same time, the artist produces a dialogue with the symbolic context proposed by the modern architecture of the Centro Cultural San Martín, whose building was designed by architect Mario Roberto Álvarez (1913-2011) and inaugurated in May 1970. Galban's modular cube fits like a set of Chinese boxes inside the building; meanwhile, it offers visitors a free space for conversation, given that the timing of the photograph, which is processed in real time, allows for a particular way of inhabiting the space and the image portrayed.

About the experience

Upon arrival at the Sótano Beat of the Centro Cultural San Martín, visitors must announce themselves to the room's coordinator. Before entering the darkroom, the visitor must give consent by means of an authorization of image use to be photographed in a process that will last approximately fifteen minutes. Afterwards, the image will undergo a fixation and drying process. The following day, the image will be integrated into a photographic gallery in which visitors' photographs will be collected.