Momu & No Es

Artist selected by Democracia

“Momu & No Es tell true stories through the experiences of a series of characters related directly or indirectly with certain events.”

 

This could be the heading for a large part of our production. We forge a sharp dialogue with what we expose as false and explore the credible construction of possible existence. Distancing reality and its own limits from our personal experience, altering whatever seems secure and impregnable and seizing the opportunity to create nonstandard interpretations. Our art work lets us put forward new realities with different structures of thought and execution. With each new reality we create new discursive environments.

 

Based on a subset of items we can define a new story encompassed within a given real framework. In our projects we recreate this framework, where the reality we put forward is made up of meaningful objects and people with stable intrinsic properties. The pieces and manifestations of the work become precious objects that coexist in parallel realities as eternal standards of meaning. The forms of installation or visualisation of our work are generally linked to creating a space where this framework is possible, turning the exhibition space into situations that immerse spectators into a narrative that becomes real.

Questions

1. What made you choose art as a profession?
With time you gradually realise you’re able to understand what pieces of art can tell you – it’s a beautiful language. All the tiny gestures you see find a place where they can be reproduced. We chose to be artists because it’s where we can carry out our dynamic activity; art is a space where we can be free, creative and interactive. It’s a space where we can be aware of ourselves and our environment.

 

2. How would you define your work?
Our work is a process, a group of possible answers to all kinds of different questions posed about the practice of existence. We try to isolate questions, condense them, simplify them in order to understand them and offer an answer, an alternative, a way to resist pre-established conventionalisms. It’s a compendium that expands with everything around us; everything ends up under the cloak of benefit of the doubt. We like to think our work is a new possibility.

 

3. What subjects are you interested in?
We’re interested in all subjects we’ve had, have or would like to have a relationship with. In general, anything can be studied, although we’re particularly attracted by anything that hints that there’s something more than meets the eye, perhaps a change at our behaviour as a whole.

 

4. What resources – formal or otherwise – do you use in your work?
We use all resources that let us directly recreate what we’re telling, so we camouflage ourselves with the immediate reality as a model, we assimilate and reconstruct its shapes and resources. Objects, people, images, sounds, audiovisuals, videogames, java applications for phones, etc.

 

5. What relationship does your work have with reality? What are your raw materials?
Our work is based on reality to create another possible reality that then becomes real, whereupon the relationship with reality is total and constant, since we are always immersed in one or other reality.

 

6. What, according to you, is the point of art?
There are a lot of points to art and many points at the same time. There are many ways of relating to art. For some people, it can drive change; for others, it can help promote exchange or act as a therapy or a hobby. It all depends on the use made of it. For us, art helps create thought; art is a space where everything is yet to be done. It’s a land of rehearsal where the state of the present-day world is projected and where you can work on it free from rules and prejudices and then extrapolate possible readings, ideas or solutions. Creativity is the work tool. It’s been this way for a long time, so it gives us a very accurate vision of the world of our ancestors.

 

7. How do you hope the public will receive your work? What audience are you aiming at?
We’re aiming at any audience that wants to take a look. When we go and see work by other artists, we enjoy it. Sometimes we see terrible stuff; sometimes we think it’s good, but don’t really identify with what they’re saying; other times we’re blown away and quickly write down the artist’s name on the first writable thing that comes to hand, take home an exhibition pamphlet to frame and remember a name to google because we’re impatient to find out more, and we hope the artist is alive so we can meet them and tell them we liked their work and although we didn’t know it, we agree or disagree. That’s basically what we’d like to happen with our work – being able to create reasonable doubt in people.

 

8. What qualifications have you got? What do you value most from your time in education?
We both received art education, well with a half-finished thesis… and one of us, No Es (the smart one), is also a technical architect.

 

What we value most from our time in education first and foremost is meeting each other. We also positively value the intensity of the moment of trial and error that makes you suddenly go from one side to the other. The first discoveries and awareness of your own work and obviously all the relationships and ties with professionals and fellow students during the period. And you’re the attractive one. And who pulls most, then? So, the smart one is also the attractive one. Yeah!

 

9. How would you define your current professional situation? And in the future?
We’re at a good professional moment in time, happy with what we’ve done up to now and enthusiastic about present and future projects. It’s satisfying to see we’re setting bigger challenges in our art projects and we’re still growing and reinventing ourselves. It would be sad to simply fall into a rut of repeating ourselves. We hope to reach old age with a decent artistic career behind us, with a Momu & No Es family of seven that have travelled and worked all over the world. That would be complete happiness.

 

10. Many artists say it’s difficult to make a living from their work; how do economic considerations affect you when it comes to work? Do you think this has a bearing on your work?
Obviously it’s not easy to make a living from art work, at least in our case, what with the two of us and just starting out. But as it’s always the case, it doesn’t affect our work at all; creativity makes up for the lack of money to produce work and you can often get good results and good work you wouldn’t improve with more money simply by surrounding yourself with good people. We learnt very early on to work with the money we had at any given time without this being a handicap. Economic considerations have a greater bearing on personal issues, the rhythm of work and life, but then that’s what the lottery’s for.

 

11. What do you look for or expect from your relationship with promoters and curators? What advantages and difficulties have you found with these relationships?
We look for a complementary role; we hope curators provide a critical view on the work and suggest something different to what we initially thought. We want them to link it to other people’s visions and create networks around the work, without any rush and seeing their job as a challenge. We know that’s very difficult, just as it’s not easy for an artist to be a good artist. We like doing work together so the work grows and becomes stronger. And like everything in life, relationships and bonds depend on people.

 

12. What do you think sets the arts scene in Madrid apart from elsewhere? What would you say are its pluses and minuses?
If we understand difference as a quality or aspect that distinguishes one thing from another, we’ll find different qualities depending on what we compare the Madrid scene with. We’ve just arrived in Madrid and we ought to wait a while before we can give a reasoned, useful answer.

Interview

http://archivodecreadores.es/file/3/3819/3819.flv

Curriculum vitae

Momu & No Es
Lucía Moreno Murillo (Basel, 1982), Eva Noguera Escudero (Barcelona, 1979)
Viven y trabajan en/Lives and works in: Madrid.

 

Formación Académica/Education
Doctorando.
Licenciadas en Bellas Artes, Universidad de Barcelona.
Eva Noguera, Diplomada en Arquitectura Técnica, Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña.



Exposiciones Individuales/Solo Exhibitions
2009
Las Guerras Élficas (1979-1982), Demolden Video Project, Santander.

 

2008
Las Guerras Élficas (1979-1982), Espai Moncada, CaixaForum, Barcelona.
Reina de las fiestas, LOOP 08, Video Art, Galería Senda (Barcelona), Barcelona.

 

2006
Mi dispiace signor mininistro di sicurezza, Centre d’Art Santa Mònica, CASM, Barcelona.

 

2005
Si lo sé no vengo, Centre Cívic Guinardó, Barcelona.



Exposiciones Colectivas/Group Exhibitions
2009
ENTES, Barcelona.
Is this Spain?, The Crypt Gallery, London.
BCN Producció 09, La Capella, Institut de Cultura de Barcelona.

 

2007
Muestra de Artes Visuales Creación Injuve’07, Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid.
Processos Oberts P_O_4, Sala Muncunill, Ajuntament de Terrassa, Barcelona.

 

2006
Plantas, Animales y Otras Compañías, Galería Senda, Espai 2NOU2, Barcelona.
Paisatge Després del Parricidi, Can Felipa, Barcelona; Can Palauet, Mataró, Barcelona; Fundació Espais d’Art Contemporani, Girona; Sala Muncunill, Ajuntament de Terrassa, Barcelona.
Au bout, l'Art, Maison de la Catalogne, Paris.

 

2005
David G. Torres presenta: Salir a la calle y disparar al azar, C/ Calabria 71, sótano 1, Barcelona.



Performances
2006
Avistamientos, MICA, Museo de la Maquinista, Barcelona.

 

2004
Staimo Chuidendo, proyecto Fe y Entusiasmo de Antonio Ortega, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma, MACRO, al Mattatoio, Roma.



Premios y Becas/Awards and Grants
2008
BCN Producció 09, La Capella, Institut de Cultura de Barcelona. (Beca/Grant)

 

2007
Ayuda InJuve para la Creación Joven, InJuve, Instituto de la Juventud, Madrid.

 

2006
HANGAR, Barcelona. (Beca de Residencia/Residence Grant)

 

2004
Ayuda a la producción de proyectos artísticos para artistas visuales, Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona.
Becas y Ayudas a la creación artística, Fundación Guasch Coranty, Barcelona.



Obra En Museos y Colecciones/Works in Museums and Collections
PatrimUB, Patrimonio de la Universidad de Barcelona.
Colección Fundación Guash Coranty.
Colección Ernest Ventós.


Bibliografía/Bibliography
AA.VV., BCN Producció 09, Barcelona, La Capella, Institut de Cultura de Barcelona, 2009, pp. 39-50. Cat. Exp.
Badía, Montse, "Sobre guerras y McGuffins", http://www.a-desk.org/28/momu.php, 2009.
Momu & No Es, "Miedos de Muchos. Los Mundos Posibles", Barcelona, Ed. Save As, 2009, CD.
Armengol, David, "Momu & No Es, Las Guerras Élficas (1979-1982)", Barcelona, Fundació La Caixa, 2008. Cat. Exp.
Armengol, David, "Historiografías de lo No-Conocido, Las Guerras Élficas (1979-1982)", Fundació La Caixa, 2008. Cat. Exp.
AA.VV., Muestra de Artes Visuales 2007, Madrid, Instituto de la Juventud, pp. 112-123, 2007, Cat. Exp.
Momu & No Es, "Práctica de vuelo 11", Barcelona, Ajuntament de Terrassa, 2007, póster.
Barenblit, Ferrán, "Mi Dispiace Signor Ministro Della Presidenza Di Sicurezza", Becats Fundació Guasch Coranty, Barcelona, Centre d’Art Santa Mònica, CASM, 2006.
Vidal, Jaume, "Momu & No Es, disfrazadas de arte (pop)", Metrópolis, Barcelona, 2008, p. 104.



Contacto/Contact
(+34) 656356247
(+34) 690606520
hello@momuandnoes.com
www.momuandnoes.com