Medir el aire

This project grew out of a collaboration with Víctor Otero and his mother, Élida Polo, artisans from the department of Sucre, Colombia, who work with caña flecha basketry.

Medir el aire offers a reflection on the objects used for archaeological measurement, and specifically on the scale bar: an instrument made of alternating black and white squares, placed beside objects to give the viewer a reference for their dimensions.

This object has caught my attention for a long time, and in this project it takes material form at a large scale through basketry. It is also a reflection on the notion of measuring itself.

Suspended from the ceiling, and as its name suggests, Medir el aire —measuring the air— alludes more to a movement than to the measurement of anything tangible. By changing the materiality and the language of this measuring instrument, the project suggests a comment on the apparent objectivity of standard metrics, opening up the possibility of imagining other ways of relating to time, the body, weight and space.

This piece formed part of the exhibition Atrapar, calar, tejer mitos, shown at ARTBO International Fair 2025, at the Claustro de Las Aguas of Artesanías de Colombia, in the exhibition hall of the Faculty of Creation and Communication at Universidad del Rosario, and at Expoartesanías Colombia 2025.