“Doers” provide the inspiration for new ideas, as well as the necessary perseverance that ensures positive results from a project. “Doers” are the driving force of innovation, delivering initiatives and accomplishing amazing things by making it possible for a great idea to become a reality. These are some of the definitions of “doer” provided by Tom E. Jones, in his book on “doers” (Doers: The Vital Few Who Get Things Done2016).
Typically, the “doers” move behind the scenes. When the public attends the staging of the until contemporary, marvels at the surprising creations, but they are unaware of the universe of creativity, talent and technique that moves behind these exhibitions, of the ingenious people who make many of these works possible, working in the backstage with dedication, using cutting-edge technology to nourish and support the artist’s discourse. Today I am going to share my conversation with a “doer” and his know-how on the use of technologies applied to art. That “doer” is called Carlos. Cross-Ten Jr.
-How does a person become a “maker” in the art world?
I owe my experience to the work of assistance and support for more than 50 years to my father, the kinetic artist Carlos Cruz-Diez. Since I was a child I became familiar with the tools in his workshop, because for him, family, home and workshop were the same thing. At the age of 21, after finishing high school in France, I formally joined the staff of his workshop. I learned to skillfully perform all the tasks necessary to help him in the complex development of his works, as well as the design and manufacture of the machines necessary for that process.
In parallel, I began to investigate new technologies that would help make their speech more efficient, from innovative lighting systems, engine design, printing systems, digital technology, among others. Over time, I took on the functions of planner and manager of the Atelier Cruz-Diez Paris. I expanded the vision of what an artist’s atelier should be in the 21st century and organized exhibitions of his works around the world. This has allowed me to develop a panoramic vision of the art world and its trends and direct the marketing efforts of its works; Over the years I became a connoisseur Of art.
-I understand that the engineering role that you play in relation to the Cruz-Diez projects was essential for the artist.
In the case of projects involving works integrated into architecture and urban planning, I always helped him make the calculations, plans and models. After the concept was approved, I took care of the construction together with engineers and architects. One of the examples I can give you is the Miami Marlins Ballpark Stadium. The work is made up of paths (walkways) in a square of 1,600 square meters (1,749 square yards), it is a Dual Frequency Chromatic Induction.
The frequency variations generate a constantly transforming color spectrum as you move, creating complementary colors that are virtual, but exist in the space between the viewer’s eye and the tiles on the floor that contain the other printed colors. Together with José Ramón Moreno we created a company in Miami called Logistics Fine Arts to direct the installation work of the 1,600 m2 of mosaics.
The work is visited during baseball seasons by 55,000 people daily and serves as a recreation area for the community. The stadium was inaugurated in the spring of 2012. In this work we turned baseball into art (laughs).
-Speaking of proposals, I understand that, in the month of April, they will present in Meudon, France, Chromosaturation for a public walkway. It is an emblematic work, since Cruz-Diez exhibited it at the time of the May Revolution in France.
I witnessed the May Revolution of ’68, an event that shook the cultural and social patterns of our generation. It is that spirit that made it possible for art to turn to the streets, as happened with Chromosaturation that Cruz-Diez installed at the exit of the Odeon subway, where people were immersed in amazement in an absolute chromatic situation, physically experiencing color. The Chromosaturation that we lend to the Hangar-Y sculpture park, is in collaboration with the Galleria Continua.
-Returning to the exciting symbiosis of technology and art, I understand that your father modified some works as he found unprecedented solutions. Tell me about that.
The way of making art is nourished by the innovations of technology, but it is important to understand that this must be at the service of a concept for a “work of art” to exist. I am currently working on a proposal for the Tate Modern in London and updating Chromointerferent environmenta work that had its origin in the concept devised by Cruz-Diez in 1965 and which he called Deconditioning Labyrinth. Its object was to awaken dormant perceptions due to the effect of a society that discharges a heterogeneous and continuous bombardment of information on people. In the 1960s, its development depended on the technological possibilities of that time. I assisted my father in the manufacture of the first Chromointerfering environment in 1975 and in 2001 I updated the work with vector programming designed by my father using a computer and video projectors. Since then the work has been enriched at the pace of technological advancement, turning it into a dematerialized and immersive work.
-Although, since the departure of Maestro Cruz-Diez in 2019, you assumed the authority about the artist’s legacy and his projects in development, I ask him what his balance is.
As a Cruz-Diez family, we carry a legacy of excellence, innovation, a know-how technological and savoir faire that we learned from him, in addition to professional ethics and an impeccable reputation in the art market, which is the most valuable capital we possess. The Atelier Cruz-Diez Paris is a nucleus that generates solutions for the realization of contemporary art projects. We have a staff of excellent professionals, technicians and artisans, with whom we elaborate the ideas and projects that my father conceived, I mean works, committed in anticipation of his absence. I am personally in charge of directing its production, following exactly its designs, plans and instructions. A legacy like my father’s deserves constant dedication, for its contribution to the history of contemporary art, as well as for the value it represents for museums and collectors.
-Tell us what projects are in development.
Apart from the aforementioned projects, I have just inaugurated the exhibition at the Center Pompidou Málaga Carlos Cruz-Diez. Color in motion. At the beginning of April, the Continua gallery opens in Paris Carlos Cruz-Diez. The euphoria of color. From 2023 until the end of 2024, the traveling exhibition RGB The colors of the centurytours the main capitals of the world, as a tribute to the artist’s centenary.
-You are a very ingenious person, in two words a “doer”, an engineer of art. Tell me who could contact you for advice and support.
I am not an artist, but I am an inventor, an art “maker” as you say, since I am excited to stay up to date with technological advances. My father taught me to go beyond what a tool does. I remember that on one occasion I spent days studying the device used for interior lighting in old buildings in Paris, which is based on a pivoting bulb filled with mercury to regulate the lighting time, with the purpose of proposing to my father a device for Random Chromoprisms, which allowed them to light up when people approached. Nowadays there are motion detectors that you can buy online (laughs).
After reading the book about the “doers”, mentioned above, I understand that these people are few in number, they are a species that could be in danger of extinction in this instant and instant society. ready-made in which we live. I end with a phrase from Jones’ book: “Doers are those who, guided morally, have managed to do the right things in the right way and for the right reasons. They are the people you count on when others let you down.”
