THE PARADOX OF AWAKENING | SACO Team Crises present a tremendous opportunity to analyze the future from different points of view, with the hope of not making the same mistakes again. Paradoxes that we hadn’t seen before become clear as soon as that normalcy that so many insist on talking about, as if it were some sort of oasis (or mirage) that we must reach for safety, begins to blur. Since October 2019, the nationwide popular uprising has caused us to reflect on society in all its aspects: our own private lives and personal matters, human relationships, politics, labor systems and the economy. In the case of SACO, it meant getting back to thinking about art as part of the social fabric of our territories. On top of that is the enormous impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, which has crossed all physical, mental and spiritual boundaries in a way that forces us to reflect on what we want for our lives and societies. Like the way the popular uprising changed art, ways of speaking and symbolizing, or how certain artistic actions reached out to the masses, how groups of neighbors or protestors identified with certain artistic expressions and then made them their own. And yet it was nothing new. “Los pingüinos” had already danced “Thriller” a million times outside of La Moneda presidential palace, and long before that, some of the family members of political prisoners who had gone missing during the dictatorship started dancing la cueca sola dressed in black and white, with the photos of the disappeared clutched to their chest. In the past year, performances in the midst of protests have become commonplace, and in a way, we have gotten used to finding art in places other than galleries and museums: on walls, in plazas and on the street. Art that has stood apart from the establishment, going viral and becoming mainstream, even drawing the interest of academia and the media. And then the apocalypse came and sent us all home. It seemed like an act of collusion from the powers that be, for its violent and crushing modus operandi. Satisfying merely one’s basic necessities became the mark of responsible maturity. We stopped getting together, not to mention greeting each other with a kiss on the cheek. Casual strolls turned into secret meetings. We stopped living in order to survive. Museums, galleries, cinemas, and theaters turned off their lights and closed their doors. From their homes, those in charge of art mediation tried to convince us that we could do everything through virtual reality. But the truth is that we have grown tired and numb looking at social media. Only live contact without any reviews or pauses, only laughter without the mute button, and art without “likes” will wake us up.
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