Episode #232: Abraham Cruzvillegas discusses his personal and artistic relationship to the concept of autoconstrucción from his childhood home in Mexico City. "Autoconstucción is about self-constructing or constructing your own house," the artist explains, adding, "I like the term because it leads me to think about the construction of identity." Cruzvillegas, who is shown assembling his large-scale installation "The Autoconstrucción Suites" at the Walker Art Center, is not illustrating autoconstrucción houses through his work, but instead is activating the method’s dynamic improvisation through the use of found materials.

Inspired by the harsh landscape and living conditions of his childhood neighborhood, Abraham Cruzvillegas assembles sculptures and installations from found objects and disparate materials. Expanding on the intellectual investigation of his own paradoxical aesthetic concepts of "autoconstrucción" and "autodestrucción," he likens his works to self-portraits of contradictory elements, exploring the effects of improvisation, transformation, and decay on his materials and work. In his experiments with video and performance, through the use of academic research and personal and family archives, he reveals the deep connection between his identity—born of the realities of his family’s life in Mexico—and his artistic practice.

Learn more about the artist at:
http://www.art21.org/artists/abraham-cruzvillegas

ART21 "Exclusive" is supported, in part, by 21c Museum Hotel, and by individual contributors.

CREDITS: Producer: Ian Forster. Interview: Susan Sollins. Editor: Morgan Riles. Camera: Mark Falstad, Kevin Galligan, David Howe & Joel Shapiro. Sound: Heidi Hesse & Mauricio Rodríguez. Artwork Courtesy: Abraham Cruzvillegas. Special Thanks: Walker Art Center.