El Salvador: Simón Vega

A spherical capsule with a deflated parachute simulates a landing in the midst of the exhibition venue. Produced with recycled material found in the streets and on the beaches of El Salvador, the sculpture Third World Sputnik by Simón Vega (El Salvador) is a colourful parody of Sputnik 10, a Soviet space programme satellite launched in the sixties. Vega’s precarious vessel contrasts with the sophisticated technology of the space race that took place during the Cold War, when the USSR and the USA competed to conquer space. Third World Sputnik aspires to modernity and dreams of progress; however, it comes up against the barriers of the Third World. In the face of a futuristic escape provided by a ship that might reach other worlds, Vega’s homemade Sputnik is bound to its context and the history, struggles and conflicts of its world – the Third World. In a minor scenario, ideological and military Cold War disputes were played out in El Salvador, where the struggle for power gave rise to a confrontation between parties aligned with the Western capitalist and Eastern communist blocs, between 1980 and 1992. This work is part of a series of drawings, diagrams and ephemeral sculptures, entitled Tropical Space Proyectos [Tropical Space Projects], which addresses some of the most significant spacecrafts and missions of the space race, in both the Soviet and the USA programmes.

Sketch for the Third World Sputnik, 2013, Wax pencil on paper, courtesy of Gallery Ernst Hilger, Vienna