Lorena Amorós (Alicante, 1974) is a visual artist, researcher and teacher. Her exhibition at the CAB in Burgos, Future wish (until September 29), part of speculative feminism to reflect on the imaginary of science fiction.
In what ways has science fiction influenced the formation of the idea of the feminine? Science fiction has been and continues to be a powerful platform for exploring and redefining the construction of the feminine and gender concepts. While traditionally, publications pulp and space opera They were conceived by and for men, in which women of the same type predominated. trophy wifethere have also been great female writers—unknown and sometimes silenced—who promoted active female characters, as is the case of the American Catherine Lucille Moore (1911-1987). One of the pioneers of the current known as speculative fiction and whose ambiguous signature, CL Moore, allowed her to enter the famous Weird Tales. In her stories, the evolution of female roles gave rise to a good number of badass women, a colloquial term referring to fearsome, brave and determined women; a profile that I have highlighted in my work through exhibitions such as Fear the Star (2022) and/or Sisters of Tomorrow (2023), and that now, in Future wish (2024), I have tried to enhance through the exploration of the concept of desire at the intersection between science fiction and speculative feminism as defended by theorist Donna Haraway, that is: desire as a driving force for change; desire as an agent of identity construction; desire as an exploration of possible futures. From this perspective, I claim a complicit and active space in which we can recognize ourselves as consumers and creators of the metafictional scenarios that I have created at the CAB, moving away from the vulnerable image that has historically been attributed to us.
Looking back on your work, what would you say have been your recurring obsessions? The obsessions that have always permeated my work have been linked to the analysis of extreme situations of self-representation, the reverses of autobiography in family albums and the construction of female subjectivity in the distortions forced by cultural conditions. Along the same lines of protagonism: the imaginary world of the fan and its projections on rock and punk music, as well as the impact of the science fiction genre and B-series products on contemporary culture from a gender perspective. In this sense, I have insisted on questioning and deconstructing the norms and stereotypes that science fiction provokes in the artistic and literary imagination, questioning the role of women in this genre in order to imagine possible futures where identities are more fluid and diverse.
When did you know you would dedicate yourself to art? I always remember myself with that impulse.
What work of art would you have liked to create? There are too many works of art that I am passionate about and have worked on, but if I have to choose one, that would be it. Frankensteinby the great Mary Shelley.
What three adjectives would you use to define your work? How difficult! Perhaps ironic, obsessive and critical, because the term feminist is implicit.
What is the nicest thing anyone has said to you about your job? Queen of Mars.
And the most extravagant thing? My mother constantly tells me not to work so much because I have two small children.
What have you learned about the art world that can’t be learned from a book? The need for perseverance in work.
Which museum would you like to live in? I don’t think I could live in a museum because it would make my insomnia worse.
What book do you have open on your nightstand? Since I became a mother of twins (Marta and Pablo) five years ago, I rarely read at night, but right now on my bedside table I have The pact of lucidity or the intelligence of Evil, by Jean Baudrillard and Some New Kind of Kick: A Memoir, by Kid Congo Powers. I hold the latter in high regard after KCP himself signed it for me with a dedication included at the Funtastic Dracula Carnival, the most fun festival on the planet and which, unless I am in danger of death, I never miss.
One that you couldn’t finish? I try to choose well because I barely have time, but there are some that I cannot mention out of respect for the author and because he is also a friend.
What is the movie you have seen the most times? I wouldn’t know if Vampyr (1932), by Carl Theodor Dreyer, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958), by Nathan Juran or Faceless eyes (1960), by George Franju.
The last series you watched in one go? I recently saw again Riget (1994), by Lars von Trier.
If you had to use a song or a piece of music as a self-portrait, what would it be? It is impossible for me to identify myself with a single song, I really like The Cramps, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Beasts of Bourbon and Los Bichos de Josetxo Ezponda…but I also like bands like Parálisis Permanente, Dead Boys, The Monsieurs, Les Lullies, Kate Clover, Wau y los Arrrghs and a long etcetera…
What is socially overrated? He well-being.
What assignment would you never accept? Anything that just imagining it made me lazy.
What is the historical event that you most admire? The Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM).
If he had not dedicated himself to art, he would be… The Bad Seeds’ drums, with permission from Thomas Wydler.
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