LABORATORY OF CONTEMPORANEITY: THE MARCO OF LA BOCA

Abstract

This article analyzes the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (MARCO) of La Boca, Buenos Aires, opened in 2018 as the city’s second museum to adopt the category of “contemporary”. Among its objectives, it became central to create a space for experimentation, a laboratory where artists could test material and conceptual conditions. At MARCO, the creative processes are shown through open workshops, visits, exhibits, conferences, special events and educational proposals. There’s also a residency program for artists from all over the country to create artworks in situ, slightly merge the roles of artist and public since visitors affect the work of art by their presence during production, while interaction is encouraged by not isolating or glass-boxing (Wylie, 2020) the “laboratory” or experimental space from the exhibitionary complex, but rather allowing the creation of a space for dialogue and discussion between artists, curators and visitors (Meyer, 2011). Also, the museum encourages innovative formats of production and display, highlighting collaborative work. If for Reinaldo Laddaga (2010) some contemporary productions show fragments of the artists’ lives under controlled conditions, fabricating a laboratory-like aesthetic, then MARCO can be defined as a contemporary museum-laboratory, where experiments are performed with a naked eye to provide a more dialogical experience.