Escenas — El Meido

Now open at MetaLES is the third of four scenes in the gradually unfolding artwork Escenas, entitled El Meido, or The Fear, by Ux Hax and Romy Nayar. (The first scene, El Tiempo or The Time (read here) opened November 1, and the second scene, Decisiones or Decisions (read here) opened on November 14; these have both been dismantled, and on December 11 El Meido will make way for the final scene — these installations possibly appearing in non-linear order.) Consistent with the two previous scenes, a quote accompanies the installation: "La excepción, que no niega la regla, sino que se sustrae a ella," which might be roughly translated as "The exception does not deny the rule, but evades it."

Turning one's draw distance up dramatically is essential to viewing El Meido — the forms are colossal, with the large male figure towering more than 130 meters into the air. Awkwardly squatting, his bent form, restrained by a straightjacket, hovers over a woman — most likely the same woman from El Tiempo — who cradles a tower in her hands. Unlike the previous two scenes, the tower would seem to be the only tarot reference here. The woman's dressing table, which includes two hairbrushes seen in El Tiempo, stands by the side, as does a crow perched on a small table, a grandfather clock, a door, a window, and a crib or bassinet that periodically fades in and out of view. Curiously, the tower shown in the installation's promotional images is nowhere to be seen. As with the previous scenes, El Meido's craftsmanship is superb, and we will need to wait for the final scene to perhaps see how the narrative assembles.