Issue # 10 Manuela Viera-Gallo

Curated by: Virginia Inés Vergara

 In Desgaste del Capital, a video from 2013 by the Chilean artist Manuela Viera-Gallo, a beautiful woman in formal, feminine, flowing clothing runs around an empty unfinished corporate space with floor to ceiling windows as the sun gradually descends behind the Andes. The sound of her heels hitting the cement floor along with the traffic of the city outside are deafening. Through this corner office we see the unfinished Gran Torre Costanera building that would come to define the skyline of the capital city of Chile, Santiago almost as much as the Andes, priding itself on being the tallest building in South America.  The city visible outside is new, modern and clean. There is no sign of the 2010 earthquake. It is a city built for business.

Gradually the woman sheds her outfit, first the pink sweater, then the shoes. We see blisters emerge on her feet from the frantic, continuous running. Her hair comes undone, as her white dress and skin become covered in sweat. It is not clear why she is running, at points there is a menacing presence in the room at, a  figure or sculpture wearing a cloak and a mask that completely conceals any human elements. As the sun sets the space starts to feel more enclosed as the shadows from the support structures begin resembling bars, jailing her. Eventually the noise dies down and all we see are the lights of the city as she continues running, though now she is harder to discern in the darkening room.

In October of 2019 protests began over Chile, with calls to reform the social inequalities overlocked in the neo-liberal economic system led by the billionaire president. On 26 April, the country had planned to vote on whether to create a new constitution. It is largely assumed that the answer would have been yes, but the vote was postponed until October 2020 due to the pandemic. In late June of 2020 I encountered this work online. I know the neighborhood it is filmed in, as it is the epicenter of what was the “New Chile”. A capitalist dream that emerged from dictatorship, never completely reconciling itself with its past horrors. An example to many of what a prosperous South American country could be despite the gross income inequalities and access to social services. In March of 2020 people joked that Chile was just like Switzerland, as it shared the same infection rate for Covid-19. By late June this joke was over, Chile's case count had surpassed the UK, though its population was much smaller, a state of catastrophe was announced. Unemployment hit 27%. These office buildings are empty as are the streets as a strict lockdown is enforced.

Virginia Inés Vergara