Buscando al Comandante (Looking for the Commander)
various media:
video documentation, Cuban Spanish with English subtitles (20′ 45″)
framed bank card-shaped USB stick,
22 x 28 cm (frame size)
silkscreens (from a series of 50, each
accompanied by a 3-peso banknote),
52 x 70 cm (frame size)
2022
EN

Ryts Monet's work, rooted in meticulous research, employs various media, found objects, and suggestive items. The notions of historical and economic change, monetary exchange but also systemic and cultural shifts, come to the fore in Monet’s piece Buscando *al Comandante. At its core is a video documenting a participatory action in public space that was carried out on February 28, 2022, in Cuba by the artist with the help of a local cooperator and individuals they approached in the streets of Havana. The video file is saved on a bank card-shaped USB stick adorned with the likeness of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. The world-famous, countlessly reproduced image of the Marxist revolutionary, stylized from a photograph by Alberto Korda, is repeated in another integral element of the piece—framed pairs of silkscreens and 3-pesos banknotes.

As the country reopened for travel amid the coronavirus pandemic, the artist visited Cuba and was stunned by the immense level of inflation. In daily life practicalities, this meant that the 3-peso bills, emblematic of the Castro revolution and featuring one of the most iconic symbols of rebellion—Che’s image—had lost any significant monetary value and were, thus, disappearing from circulation. The artist sets on a quest to find a willing participant who will gather 50 3-pesos bills from local people, markets, and shops and hand them over to the artist in exchange for a single 10-euro bill while the process is recorded. By connecting the state of economic crisis with that of ideological decline, the work reveals the inevitable contemporary intertwinements of communist and capitalist principles and practices. Ryts Monet’s practice is permeated by history, studying symbols of power, revealing hierarchies, and exploring mechanisms of change and exchange.

Eva Kovač

* At the time of the performance for a Cuban citizen to exchange 10 euros for 150 pesos on the black market would have allowed him/her to get about 1,200 Cuban pesos, (the average monthly salary of a Cuban worker was between 3,000 and 5,000 CUP.

IT

La pratica artistica di Ryts Monet affonda le proprie radici in una ricerca meticolosa e caratterizzata dall’impiego di diversi media e oggetti evocativi.
I temi legati al cambiamento storico ed economico, allo scambio monetario e alla trasformazione culturale, sono in primo piano in Buscando al Comandante. Al centro dell’opera un video che documenta un'azione partecipativa avvenuta il 28 febbraio 2022 a Cuba, con l'aiuto di una collaboratrice cubana e di persone avvicinate per le strade di L'Avana. Il file del video è contenuto all’interno di una chiavetta USB a forma di carta di credito, ornata con le sembianze del rivoluzionario marxista, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, in una stilizzazione della famosa fotografia di Alberto Korda. Quest’immagine, ricompare anche in un altro elemento dell'opera costituito da coppie di serigrafie e banconote da 3 pesos incorniciate.

Immediatamente dopo la riapertura del Paese al turismo in seguito alla pandemia di Covid19, l'artista ha visitato Cuba ed è rimasto impressionato dall'immenso livello di inflazione in atto. Nella vita quotidiana ciò significa che le banconote da 3 pesos, emblema della rivoluzione castrista e caratterizzate da uno dei simboli più iconici della rivolta (l'immagine del Che) hanno perso ogni valore monetario significativo e pertanto stanno scomparendo dalla circolazione. L'artista si mette alla ricerca di un partecipante disposto a raccogliere 50 banconote da 3 pesos da residenti, mercati e negozi locali e a consegnarle all'artista in cambio di una sola banconota da 10 euro, documentado con il video tutto il processo di ricerca.*
Mettendo in relazione lo stato di crisi economica con quello di declino ideologico, l'opera rivela l'inevitabile intreccio contemporaneo di processi e principi comunisti e capitalisti. Il lavoro di Ryts Monet è permeato da un'attenzione verso la storia, egli studia i simboli del potere, ne svela le gerarchie ed esplora i meccanismi del cambiamento e dello scambio.

Eva Kovač

* All'epoca della performance per un cittadino cubano cambiare 10 euro con 150 pesos al mercato nero gli avrebbe permesso di ottenere circa 1.200 pesos cubani, -lo stipendio medio mensile di un lavoratore cubano si aggirava tra i 3.000 e i 5.000 CUP.

Ryts Monet, BUSCANDO AL COMANDANTE (Looking for the Commander),
first part of the video documention of the performance, Cuban Spanish with English subtitles, 2022.
The full video (with 2k resolution, duration 20′ 45″) is available on request

Ryts Monet, BUSCANDO AL COMANDANTE (Looking for the Commander), stills from the video
documention of the performance, 2k video, 20′ 45″, Cuban Spanish with English subtitles.

Ryts Monet, BUSCANDO AL COMANDANTE (Looking for the Commander),
framed bank card-shaped USB stick (detail), 2022.

The project was first presented to the public in November 2022, during the exhibition “Liquidi” at Galleria Michela Rizzo 2 in Mestre, Venice, a double solo show with artist Cesare Pietroiusti.
At “Liquidi”, the 50 screen prints/3-pesos banknotes and the video documentation were available for purchase at a reduced price if bought in cash. More specifically, 500 euros if purchased with a 500-euro banknote, now increasingly rare and hard to find.

Each of the 50 silk screen prints reproduces the serial number of each 3-peso bill attached to it,
making each silk screen print effectively different from the other.

Ryts Monet, BUSCANDO AL COMANDANTE (Looking for the Commander),
silkscreens (from a series of 50, each accompanied by a 3-peso banknote), 52 x 70 cm (frame size), 2022.

Ryts Monet, BUSCANDO AL COMANDANTE (Looking for the Commander),
installataion view at Liquidi, double solo show with Cesare Pietroiusti, GMR2, Mestre (Venezia), 2022.

Ryts Monet, BUSCANDO AL COMANDANTE (Looking for the Commander),
installation view at Leap Years, a group show curated by BLOCKFREI at DAS WEISSE HAUS, 2024.
Photo credit: Xenia Snapiro

Ryts Monet, BUSCANDO AL COMANDANTE (Looking for the Commander),
installation view (with Yoshinori Niwa) at Leap Years, a group show curated by BLOCKFREI at DAS WEISSE HAUS, 2024.
Photo credit: Xenia Snapiro

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