David Maroto has a PhD and is an artist. He is very precise in his wording and in his artistic research. The drawing he made for the Kunstuitleen, the portrait of the Sumerian queen Puabi from the Mesopotamian era, is an extension of his project Secret Gallery, in which he explores the idea of writing as a mode to achieve immortality in text, images and performances.
Maroto: 'The support from the PPR scheme came at a crucial moment. It was during the first lockdown, I had no access to my studio and I was working from home. On the one hand, this work almost resembled an assignment, on the other hand, thanks to the work contribution, I was able to afford more financially than the specific context of the pandemic would allow.
What do you mean by the drawing of Queen Puabi?
“My wish for Queen Puabi is to take her further into the future. Her grave was discovered in 1924 in Ur, in modern-day Iraq. She was buried around the year 2600 BC, with in her grave a cylinder of lapis lazuli in which her name was engraved in phonetic sounds. Writing already existed, of course, but mainly for accounting. Those words, which sounded like her name but meant something different, are engraved. And so her name became known when her tomb was opened. With my drawing I try to build a bridge to the beginning of history. Writing is a means of being remembered in the future. The visual production of phonetic sounds underlies writing. The beginning of writing is also the beginning of history.'
'With this drawing I try to recreate that moment of becoming in our history. I am interested in the parallel between writing and making art. I see them both as an expression of that desire for immortality. An artist wants to appeal to his contemporaries. But most of the artists I know also consciously or unconsciously want to have a dialogue with the future. As an artist you take a gamble in the hope that someone will read, interpret or decipher your work in the future.'
Does the fact that someone chooses your work from the Kunstuitleen collection and hangs it up at home appeals to you?
'That would be great. The time that the public spends with a work of art is often very short. That is sometimes quite frustrating when you have spent days, months, sometimes years on a work of art. Not everyone can afford a work of art, but it is what is best for art: that someone lives with it, has the time to understand it. Most exhibition spaces show a lot in a short time. This is how art becomes a one-liner which is quickly consumed.'
Is the feeling of time slowing down a positive side effect of a pandemic?
“There are two problems with that delay due to the pandemic: it was nobody's choice, and it was collective. That is very different from when you choose to take your time. But I prefer a productive approach. When the lockdown was announced, I rushed to the store to stock up on paper and ink. I spent the first lockdown drawing, reading and writing. It may have been annoying, but compared to people dying or losing a loved one, it wasn't much.'
Is your art an ode to loss and farewell, especially given the period in which the drawing originated?
'That could be. It may still be too close, but you could say that there is a need to process, to reflect on the impossibility of mourning. You wonder how much time we have, how to make sure that the memory of your loved ones does not disappear. As an artist you have the secret desire that your name does not disappear. But what does that mean for the people around you? Again, I really want to understand why artists make art. There is always a hidden motive, which has to do with the fact that you don't just disappear, that you have made something of value, that remains, even if you are no longer there yourself.'
Temporary work contribution PPR
Om artists during the corona lockdowns to help maintain their professional practice, launched CBK Rotterdam de Ttemporary Wacknowledgment Production, Presentation en Research (PPR) for visual artists which makes are signed up at CBK Rotterdam. Divided into two rounds in 2020 in 2021 finally received almost two hundred artists made a contribution. The result of the temporary work contribution is bundled in a publication in which we, together with a few artists, look back and look forward. This is one of fifteen interviews from the publication.
Text: Machteld Leij
Photos: Mark Bolk