Lázaro Saavedra Software cubano (Cuban Software) 2012
With his prolific and hard-to-label work, Lázaro Saavedra, winner of the 2014 Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas de Cuba, has reinvented himself year after year, maintaining his place as an active exponent of contemporary Cuban art. His oeuvre has included paintings, sculptures, installations, caricatures, public interventions, and videos.
Saavedra is known for using humor and irony to address social issues, and he is always attuned to the vagaries of the Cuban government. Software Cubano is an analysis of the island’s society, which is always dismayed and disheartened by ideological, moral, and migratory issues that lead to profound existential dilemmas among its citizens. This work turns a sophisticated programing-and systems-design tool—the flowchart—into a decision matrix hand-drawn on the wall, which Saavedra suggests Cubans might use for defining their political postures and, on the basis of that, deciding which path to follow in their lives. In this work, Saavedra demonstrates the ways in which Cuban politics define the path of every citizen.
Identification
Title
Software cubano (Cuban Software)
Production Date
2012
Object Number
2017.214
Credit Line
Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, museum purchase with funds provided by Jorge M. Pérez
Copyright
© Lázaro Saavedra. Courtesy Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois, Paris
https://www.pamm.org/en/artwork/2017.214
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Physical Qualities
Medium
Acrylic and ink on wall
Dimensions
Dimensions variable
Visual Description
“Software Cubano is a hand-drawn mural by the Cuban artist Lázaro Saavedra. It is in horizontal orientation, meaning that its longest side runs parallel to the ground.
Mimicking the circuitry of a software program, Saavedra drew a flow chart with various shapes and light washes of color. The chart begins with one yellow bubble filled with black text to the top left and flows downwards and expands into several bubbles that are diamond-shaped, as well as circular, rectangular, and cylindrical in shape.
Black text written in Spanish is contained in each bubble that comment on Cuban politics and social dilemmas with dark wit. The flow chart begins with the phrase “”comun doctrina, crencia o conducta”” which translates to, “”common doctrine, belief or conduct”” This is followed by a series of questions and prompts. The chart appears to end with harsh truths such as: “”disobedience”” “”immigrant”” or the “”the end.””
For example, in one branch of the flow chart, Saavedra asks the viewer, “”immigrate?”” in a green diamond shaped bubble. The viewer is given a series of options if their answer is yes. The first option follows a black arrow to the right and asks, “”possibility of travel?”” in yet another green diamond. If the viewer answers yes, a pink diamond shape to the right says “”desert.”” If the answer is no, the viewer is directed to another green diamond below that asks “”Exit through embassy?”” If the answer is yes, a pink diamond to the right reads “”Airplane.”” If the answer is no, a pink rectangle below says “”Sea.”” If the viewer answers sea, there is yet another dark prompt in a green diamond to the right: “”death?”” If the answer is no, the viewer is prompted to follow yet another web of prompts and questions. If the viewer’s answer is yes, the flow chart ends at an orange diamond that reads “”the end.”” “
