The photograph by Santiago Sierra, titled "Burial of Ten Workers," features a desolate beach landscape with shallow grave-like depressions in the sand, using a stark black-and-white palette that emphasizes bleakness and emptiness. The shoreline and industrial horizon in the distance contribute to the composition's depiction of labor and exploitation. Sierra's style is characterized by minimalistic yet powerful imagery, critiquing systemic violence and capitalist structures. This work reflects Sierra's ongoing exploration of economic exploitation and societal neglect within public spaces. ...
The work of Santiago Sierra has been characterized by situations where survival is a fundamental element. He translates this into an artistic practice that investigates inhuman aspects of the economic system, the mechanisms of corruption and the labor exploitation of the individual. He links diverse references with reality as an exploration of a world articulated by critical discourse for the art world and its agents.
In the nineties, his projects were known for establishing systems of negotiation with third parties to carry out actions that generally occupy a public space to demonstrate the materialistic procedures related to the systemic violence of capitalism and the working conditions that are generated from it. This body of work has questioned the function of institutional structures, control over the public space, the emergence of informal architectures in the urban landscape associated with forms of survival, and the conditions of disuse and disposal not only from the point of view of the material but also as a reflection of social contrasts. ...
Founded by Pamela Echeverría in Mexico City, LABOR opened in 2009 working with artists whose creative processes are based on long term research. They have a strong commitment with the visions and concerns that their artists have towards the contemporary social/political context. They work with a mix of young and mid-career artists, both Mexican and international. With whom they work closely and assume an active role in the projects they develop. The work of these artists address topics such as value and exchange; economic systems and social structures; the exploitation of natural resources, the ethics of human behaviour, and the hidden political structures of society. ...
