Page 23 - The Future Belongs to No One. Eugenio Ampudia

devoted to working and being productive. Those three hours of being awake in the middle of the night, something our distant ancestors did, have been forgotten or are now considered an illness. Our context is one of speed and productivity, and deliberate oblivion of other systems to prevent the analysis and appearance of possible ways of life in relation to our bodies’ distribution of hours and rest without concern for the economy. Sleep and economy, sleep and possibility of action. Sleep as a political stance. And at this point we again came up with a few names of contemporary and not so contemporary artists and I emailed them photos of Eugenio Ampudia asleep in front of a Goya.In this jumbled progression of subject-matter (from Descartes to Ampudia) sleep was found to be a system for implementing possibility, an element of political weight, an active moment of passivity. And Eugenio Ampudia sleeps in front of a Goya and not just any Goya.In the museum, in the Great Museum, Ampudia breaks the security rules and crosses the rope that shows us that a particular painting is important and that our action can be dangerous – even threatening – if we get too close. The rope in the Prado, or the version in the form of a black line painted on the floor in other museums, is an element of the expository language of power. You can’t come in here. Well, you could, but you’d be doing something bad so you’dbetter not. Primarily for your own good but for everyone else’s too, because you can ruin History. You don’t need anyone to tell you that you can’t go past the rope, as you’re perfectly aware of the fact. If you go past the rope it’s logical that the security staff will come running up and act violently. If you’ve broken the rules, the system has rights over your body. The rope is one of the most direct indications there are inside the exhibition; before that you’ve accepted others (such as queuing to get in, talking softly, security staff walking around the rooms, the information panels, labels, spotlights...). The rope, and the museum itself, are part of that permanent present far removed from day and night. During opening hours, the museum and the rope will be in order and always in order. At the same time, the rope will need people visiting the museum to fully exist. Its function determines its status and also that of the painting behind it. The rope will direct the gaze – a gaze laden with economy and value. Instead of attacking, scraping or slashing the painting (activities that are repeated from time to time and reported by the media with unusual interest), Eugenio Ampudia, once past the rope, lies down on the floor and gets ready to sleep right beneath the painting, pillow and sleeping bag in his hand. He gracefully pulls back the rope and prepares to go to sleep in the small corridor between the rope and the wall, that hitherto non- existent place. Closing his eyes. Turning his back on the painting as well.23 | EUGENIO AMPUDIA. THE FUTURE BELONGS TO NO ONE YET23 | EUGENIO AMPUDIA. THE FUTURE BELONGS TO NO ONE YET