PAUL ROSERO CONTRERAS
Paul Rosero Contreras is an artist inspired by the effervescence of life and its various manifestations—adaptation, resilience, hybridity, and mutualism. His work is a blend of artistic media and scientific methods, aimed at generating both information and knowledge. Paul engages in transformative change-making by intersecting his artistic pursuits with formal academic disciplines like Ecology, Archaeology, and Biology. This has led him to be involved in social-driven projects, particularly in the context of Ecuador's progressive environmental activism. He sees immense potential in the Transformations Community to broaden dialogues and create collaborative networks, resonating with the community's "pracademic" approach to applied science and research.
Could You Briefly Explain The Driving Force/Motivation Behind Your Work?
My work has to do with life. Maybe, more precisely, with the effervescence of life in many ways and temporalities. I’m embedded in the understanding and enjoyment of phenomena related to adaptation, resilience, hybridity, symbiosis, or mutualism. Within this framework, I would say that some motivation and inspiration come from these non-human signs of behavioral response to the environment. Consequently, I guess I like the future or the idea of seeing beyond the crisis and witnessing how things settle up over and over again. This is how life spreads and changes indefinitely.
Then, these interests become experiments including artistic media and scientific methods in regards to producing some kind of information and, hopefully, knowledge.
Paul Rosero Contreras, during the shooting of Dark Paradise, part II, January 2023. Photo: Anna Shvets.
Where/How Has Your Work Engaged With Systems Or Transformative Change-Making?
Most of my practice plays with notions of cognition, education and emancipation in the context of global geopolitics. So, concepts such as territory and the South are strong ingredients taken into account. Ecuador presents very particular conditions when talking about environmental activism. In 2008, a new Ecuadorian constitution was signed including Rights of Nature as a very progressive perspective. And, more recently, we just voted to preserve oil reserves underground in the Amazon and against mining activity in the Andean Chocó.
In this line, my work engages with change-making processes from the intersection of artistic curiosity and formal studies. This means that sometimes due to my academic work, I have established direct connections with colleges in disciplines like Ecology, Archaeology or Biology, involving me in very practical and social-driven projects. In other cases, similar research questions put people in a system of collaboration.
Paul Rosero Contreras, 3D scanning a Toucan's skeleton for The Implosion of Time, October 2023. Photo: Dos Islas Studio.
How Can The Transformations Community Support Your Work?
Since our projects propose communication back and forth, I see the opportunity to broaden the conversation and probably to create networks of collaboration. I like the idea of “pracademics”, in a sense it is like applied science, but not engineering necessary. It is a path to share research without constrictions and disciplines.