Relic of Lost Futures

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Entering the first exhibition room of this sixteenth century palace, one can reflect on a philosophy of abandonment and rediscovery. It is in this room that Paula Prates exhibits “Relic of Lost Futures”, a large format polaroid, placed right in its left corner (Relic of Lost Futures, 2017). The photograph depicts part of a working desk, printed in real size scale, which is located in the yards of an abandoned factory. The room itself embodies several demands, coming in a complete agreement with the details that the viewers are able to observe in the photo.  The ruins where this detailed working desk is located, can find a completely new meaning and translation through the viewers’ eyes. Can we, as contemporary humans, relate to them? It is true that buildings can face a similar decay and degradation to the one that humans do. The passing of time, that is not always gentle with its touch, the external factors that consciously or unconsciously damage the image and the soul, but most important the passers that leave a mark that cannot be covered, are only few of the shared situations among contemporary humans and buildings, that turn them into ruins, leaving just some relics for the next passers to explore. Those relics hide stories and memories worth cherishing and powerful enough to explain and cause a change.

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This is the reason why this particular photo was chosen, from a series of six, to take the central stage and embody some influential concepts. In the very first sight of such a beautiful desk, we can easily think of privileged professions, upper working classes and aristocratic lives. But it seems that lifeless items and humans have also something in common. From one moment to another they can lose their old glory, and face the harsh reality of decay. Such decay can vary from emotional to physical stages, intriguing the viewers to search their inner selves and thoughts, and realize how much they have been affected from the continuous work environments’ changes.

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Karl Marx saw the working class as an abstract idea, individuals that embodied the consequences of their social environment, half-living in a stage of complete alienation. Following Appadurai´s concept of global “-scapes”, this state of globalization brought a shifting world imposing a change in our habits. By perceiving the degradation and banalization of the tangible materials that this proletarian space has suffered, in relation with Karl Marx´s concept of alienation, and Arjun Appadurai´s idea of globalization and its -scapes, this art piece by Paula Prates questions the struggles of the contemporary human. It shows the paradox between the ornamented secretary and the raw building where it stands, the fabric owners and the fabric workers, while it tends to intrigue the viewers to question the concept of decadence having in mind this state of globalization which brought new social, political and economic dynamics to the proletarian. And the only way to create sustainable answers to those questions is if we, as individuals, try to face the harsh decay of society´s traditional standards.