Nicaragua: Marcos Agudelo

With a rock and an iPod, Marcos Agudelo (Nicaragua) has constructed a small ‘video-object’ in order to evoke memories of the lost grave of Andrés Castro, the Nicaraguan hero. In the style of an anti-monument, and by way of underscoring absence and neglect, the work rejects the large-scale commemorative features of existing elements. The rock extracted by Agudelo at the San Jacinto hacienda where Castro performed his heroic deed is the basis of the video, which shows hands in the act of burying or interring. During the National War of 1856, Castro, bereft of ammunition and with fewer men, brought down one of William Walter’s North American filibusters with a rock to the head, a feat which spurred his comrades to win the battle and eventually repel the North American occupation that threatened to extend to the rest of Central America. Castro’s deadly rock echoes David’s exploit in defeating Goliath and returns in Agudelo’s poetic arrangement – perpetuating the challenge and historical adjustment.

A la tumba perdida de Andrés Castro, a los héroes sin tumba de Nicaragua, 2008 Video installation, video – object (lava block with slot for iPod), courtesy of Fundación Ortíz-Gurdián, León Nicaragua