The exhibition displays the results of the investigation carried out in the project entitled El paisaje como construccion social. Indicadores intangibles del paisaje urbano mediante ULPAES (The Landscape as a social construction. Intangible indicators of the urban landscape) according to the Urban Landscape Artistic Perception Expert System. Mention must also be made here of the emergent investigative group Arte, Paisaje e Innovación (ARPA) HUM-1083 to which the majority of these artists belong.
The project, approved in the II Plan Propio de InvestIgación at Malaga University, is directed by Professor Jesus Marín Clavijo (principal investigator) who also curated the exhibition.
The purpose of the exhibition is to present the various investigation projects and actions that point out the needs and fragilities of the present-day urban landscape aesthetic. The group proposed analysing, from the plastic creation point of view, case studies of relevant bordering areas that for various reasons had not been studied with the importance and relevance they deserve.
Thus, thanks to this artistic and creative initiative a field of knowledge was created to study aspect of the cultural landscape. The field study analyses not only the materials that comprise the territories and their zonal classification but also the aesthetic appreciation of the urban landscape perceived by its inhabitants.
Another concern of this group of artists and researchers was to reassess several areas on the outskirts of our cities and thus reveal the absence of studies that address their diverse characteristics and social situations. These deficiencies include the lack of research with objectives that incorporate the specific identification and characterisation of our landscapes. For example, a lack of evaluation of visual and aesthetic aspects of the urban landscape. Nor is there a definition and design of instruments or formulas in the policies of territorial and urban planning. And lastly, there are few programmes for raising awareness of our cities as our heritage and an incapacity to transmit knowledge for preserving this heritage.
These threats, that concur with the measures, defined in Section 2, Article 6 of the Council of Europe Landscape Convention, are dealt with in this project by the design and explanation of intangible indicators of the urban landscape and point to the pressing need, both in Spain and in Europe, for the establisment of a catalogue of the immaterial values of an uran landscape.
The exhibition analyses some of these intangible indicators in a field study of Monte Coronado in Malaga city, since most of the researchers involved reside in the city. However, the method and methodology are exportable to any similar city or urban area and means that the catalogue of cities could be extended according to the possibilities available to the the study team.
Monte Coronado is one of the most important landmarks in the landscape surrounding the city. Historically the perception of this singularly interesting hill has changed as the city grew. As Malaga expanded and consolidated its city planning the hill gradually became integrated in the daily life of its inhabitants.
The results of the investigation have been compiled from various fields of knowledge such as Fine Arts, History, Audiovisual and Architectural Communication. They attempt to offer an integral conception of the urban landscape that, on the one hand, underlines its singular historic heritage and on the other, analyses a wide and diverse range of gazes, perceptions, interpretations and readings that break with the present methodologies to bring a new vision that digs deep into the understanding of the visual surroundings and the daily life of the city. We trust this will help to erase the vacuum existing between institutional, official or academic perceptions and daily city life.
The works displayed offer the spectator multiple visions and experiences from different perspectives of Monte Coronado. Social, plastic, aesthetic or historical approaches paint versions of this unremembered iconic hill. Unremembered for its situation, behind the growing city that always looks towards the sea and has forgotten this emblematic site that nevertheless remains in the collective memory of its citizens.
–Jesús Marin Clavijo
