Son[i]a #193 Javier Codesal

Javier Codesal (Sabiñánigo, Huesca, 1958) is considered one of the pioneers of Spanish video art. In 1982, after earning a degree in Information Science, he began his creative work in the field of radio, where he created his first sound compositions and performances. A year later, with Rafael Tranche and Raúl Rodríguez, he presented the video installation Una televisión es un nicho, conceived as an action in public space.

His interest in exploring the limits and symbolic potentialities of the audiovisual format gradually gained ground in his work, and in 1984 he created, with Raúl Rodríguez, his first video, Pornada. Since then, Codesal has worked on large-scale audiovisual projects –incorporating photographs, texts and drawings- that offer a critical reflection on the role of the image and the media in our society. He has also published three poetry books and a film essay.

To coincide with the presentation of the project Los pies que faltan, SON[I]A talks to Javier Codesal about the video art boom in the eighties in Spain, the boundaries between documentary and fiction, and the places and narratives of contemporary art.