How Tino Sehgal Turned a Street in Mexico Into a Living Artwork

"The work starts long before the exhibition starts. Tino works with people. He creates relationships. He's one of those artists who changes the way you see art. That happened to me when I saw one of his pieces for the first time. I don't want to be cheesy, but it's true. There is the before and the after. It's a powerful experience."

"Sehgal, a Venice Biennale Golden Lion winner, is arguably the most famous performance-based artist next to Marina Abramović, and they share an interest in human contact, forging an electric bond with the viewer and pulling in everyone in the vicinity. But whereas Abramović exudes an almost oracular intensity, Sehgal, who mostly uses a cast of performers to enact his pieces, is the quintessential man behind the curtain."

"Without warning, the piece began, and it was like a cloud coalescing as members of the audience detached from their conversations and a hive mind activated. Locked in formation, the phalanx inched down the street in slow motion."

Tino Sehgal, a renowned performance artist and Venice Biennale Golden Lion winner, presented a new work at the Museo de Arte de Zapopan in Guadalajara as the crescendo of his self-titled exhibition. The piece, titled Andador 20 de Noviembre, is an adaptation of These Associations, previously staged at the Tate Museum and Palais de Tokyo. The work engages audience members in a slow-motion formation down a historic cobblestone walkway, creating a collective experience that activates a shared consciousness. Sehgal's practice centers on human relationships and contact, using performers to enact his pieces while remaining largely invisible. His work shares thematic interests with Marina Abramović regarding viewer engagement, though Sehgal operates as the orchestrator behind the scenes rather than as a visible presence.

Read at Artnet News