One and Three Theoretical Approximations to the Series David by Miguel Ángel Rojas

Abstract

This paper studies the photographic series David by Miguel Ángel Rojas from the perspective of “The Uncanny” proposed by Sigmund Freud. Departing from a historical revision of the process of creation of the piece, I propose three theoretical approximations to the series: as an icon related to the material reality of art history, as a body related to the psychic reality of the spectator, and as an allegorical photograph suspended between the imaginary and the real. I argue that David emotionally addresses the viewer by erasing the limits between the private and the public realms, and by undoing the boundaries between realities which appear to be mutually exclusive—such as the historical reality of art history and the psychic reality of each individual. The paper concludes with a discussion of how David acts as an instrument against collective cultural repression, by insisting on the remembrance not only of the traumatic effects of the Colombian armed conflict, but specially of the tragedy of victims of landmine explosions.