Vulnerably Human: Clarissa Tossin

Vulnerably Human, a solo exhibition by Clarissa Tossin, proposes a dialogue between contemporary civilizational conflicts and the frontiers of extinction.

The works signal the vulnerability of all living organisms as humanity continues to extract resources from the planet without adequate time for replacement. For writer and anthropologist Pedro Cesarino, who wrote the introduction to the exhibition, "for an artistic project to be able to react to contemporary dilemmas, it is becoming increasingly indispensable to establish forms of dialogue that create alternatives to westernized aesthetic matrices. After all, it is this dialogue that will allow us to offer points of view on the civilizational impasses in which we are all involved."

The work Vulnerably Human no.2, which gives the show its name, raises the discussion about how humanity seeks to exploit the natural resources found on celestial bodies, such as the moon. The astronaut suit, designed to protect humans in outer space, is often used to demonstrate humanity's triumph over the challenges of an inhospitable futuristic environment. Tossin's astronaut suit, by contrast, looks spectral, flimsy, and fragile. Made of silicone mixed with meteorite dust, the uniform has gone from being a barrier against the dangers of Space to becoming a sponge for its material components. The uniform also evokes the desire to find shelter and resources in Space, as a refuge for when all of Earth's resources run out.

The tapestry series The 8th Continent, 2021, was inspired by Clarissa Tossin's research into the Moon Agreement, a treaty adopted by the United Nations in 1979. The agreement states that the environment of the Moon and other celestial bodies "shall not be affected" and declares its natural resources "the common heritage of mankind". In 2015, however, the United States passed a law legalizing space mining, designed to expand the extraction of natural resources by large corporations beyond their original domains on Earth.

Also among the works in the exhibition are Rising Temperature Casualty, Future Geography, the collaborative video Mojo'q che b'ixan ri ixkanulab' / Antes de que los volcanes canten / Before the Volcanoes Sing, Valuable Element, and Becoming Mineral - a series produced during the quarantine using ceramic scraps that record these delicate representations of the artist's face in a state of partial disappearance.