Indigenous practices in South America are a rich tapestry of traditions, beliefs and knowledge systems that have evolved over centuries, deeply rooted in the land and its spiritual symbolism. The arrival of Western colonial powers in the region of Peru in the 16^th century heralded a disruption to these indigenous practices, often viewed as primitivist. Despite concerted efforts to erase Indigenous identities, many aspects of knowledge, spirituality and ecological stewardship have endured, often persisting in parallel with, or even influencing Western societies. The exhibition Oscar Santillán: The Andean Information Age by Ecuadorian artist and writer Oscar Santillán at Copperfield, London, reimagines an aspect of huacas, a term for indigenous entities that are deemed sacred in the Andes mountain range.

Huacas embody animistic forces, taking various earthly forms, from mountains to man-made artefacts. These sacred entities posed a perplexing challenge for the 16^th century Spanish inquisitors. Attempts to destroy huacas were futile since they were interconnected entities. A huaca is an expression of the sacred; it can emerge from anything. In the Andes, it is not possible to separate anything from anyone: objects are also viewed as animate beings, and have the power to breathe life into other inanimate forms. This belief system serves as a guiding concept for Santillán’s exhibition.

The exhibition draws inspiration from the eponymous 2020 publication titled The Andean Information Age, co-written by Santillán and curator Alessandra Troncone, which focuses on the relationship between ancient and emerging technologies. The clashing and merging of diverse knowledge systems that took place in colonial times was replete with paradoxes that continue to persist. In an interview with STIR, Santillán says, “In a certain way, one can easily trace a line of similarity between the Western colonisers and the omnipresent power technological giants are able to wield. Recognising these overlaps allows us to be critical, but even more than that, it allows us to enter into an incredibly rich symbolic territory surrounded by infinite tensions, as the overwhelming powers of destruction and creation are impossible to separate from one another. There is a certain dimension within this field that I want to engage with beyond self-gratifying moralisation, and instead, I hope that my works can live somewhere among these divergent gravitational pulls.”

In a certain way, one can easily trace a line of similarity between the Western colonisers and the omnipresent power technological giants are able to wield.

The interdisciplinary exhibition encompassing paintings, drawings, and sculptures considers what it means to exist outside the confines of the singular meaning of an artwork. The malleable essence of huaca was a source of ambivalence; it could manifest in a rock, mummy, mountain, handmade objects, or any other form. This clashed with all the basics of Western taxonomy, which split the world into three very differentiated realms: mineral, vegetal and animal. “All the images in the exhibition, therefore, defy this very taxonomical division. These images have been produced by a method that combines CGI, neural networks that we have customised at the studio combining an immense array of all kinds of different elements that are part of the ecological reality of our planet, and diverse artistic mediums such as sculptures, paintings, installations, videos, and VR,” says Santillán.

These artworks deliberately resist categorisation, aiming to highlight diverse worldviews. Take S T E L A E (2024), which, in material terms, is composed of volcanic stone, high-end resin printing and stainless steel.  Together all these materials form a chaotic composition of ambiguous elements: snake-like candles, an amorphous hand resembling a tentacle, and volcanic stone that embraces this anti-taxonomical approach. Similarly, Antimundo 00G (2022) transcends traditional artistic classifications, inviting viewers into a realm where reality and imagination coalesce. In technical terms, this work combines several cycles of both digital and analogue techniques. The Antimundo series began back in 2020 with handmade drawings: this archive was inspired by modern taxonomy, therefore it contains images of minerals, plants, and animals. In other words, this is a collection of fragments of life on Earth.

Later that same year, Santillán began feeding his drawings and image collection into neural networks. While the output images were intriguing to the artist they felt more like an invitation to carry the process further rather than considering those AI outcomes as final points of arrival. Once the final composition is achieved after several iterations, this image is manually drawn and painted on canvas. In this way, while the final result is informed by AI, it has a breath of its own. In accordance with the entire philosophy of the Antimundo series, the paintings realise what the artist calls an "anti-taxonomic” approach, where every element becomes ambiguous: erasing the distinctions that are normative to representations of ‘the natural’ throughout art history.”

'Oscar Santillán: The Andean Information Age’ is on view at Copperfield, London until May 11, 2024.