THE UNPERSON PROJECT
This project is an archive of oblivion. We made an open call inviting people to donate photographs to us in which they had erased someone from the image, either as a means to forget them, or to forget a moment in their past. This process is called vaporization and once someone is vaporized they become an Unperson, a term created by George Orwell in his novel 1984. We focus on exploring the value of the photograph as a medium in which attempts to inflict oblivion are perpetrated and how the blank spaces, burn marks, cut out faces, or scratched off ink take the place of someone. These spaces imply the presence of the ones who went from apotheosis to damnatio memoriae. Once the participants donate the image to us we become archivists and curators, cataloguing the photographs, and deciding on their place in the archive. Additionally they now have the potential to be re-contextualised to become part of a new form of exhibition. These new material forms create a different experience to that originally intended by the participant, so that by making them public they also give up their control over them. By doing this we make visible the attempts to achieve oblivion, questioning the idea of the photograph as a private possession.
The Unperson Project is created by artists Susana Moyaho and Andrea Tejeda K.
Andrea Tejeda (Mexico, 1983)
www.andreatejedak.com
Photographer and professor based in Mexico City. She has a Master’s Degree in Mass Media and Communications. Her work has been exhibited in shows in Mexico, Spain, Guatemala, France, Chile, Italy, Peru and USA. In 2016 her portfolio got selected for Premio Descubrimiento PhotoEspaña and in 2019 she did an artist residency in WabiSabi Residencia in Argentina. She is one of the selected artists for Proyecto Imaginario Latinoamérica 2020-2021 and in 2020 was invited as a guest speaker at TEDxTukuy.
Her work has been featured in publications such as Der Greif, Tierra Adentro, Lenscratch, LA Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Vice, Letras Libres, Food & Wine, Punch, amongst others and she has collaborated with editorial groups like Routledge, CONACULTA, Editorial Planeta, Paradiso Editores and Karnac Books.
Susana Moyaho (Mexico, 1983)
www.susana-moyaho.com
She has a Bachelors degree in Communication Sciences from Universidad De Las Américas Puebla and a Master degree in fashion photography from Escuela Superior de Artes y Espectáculos TAI, Madrid, Spain.
She captures scenes from daily life that include intimate portraits of friends, strangers and herself.
Her work has been shown in international exhibitions and published in magazines like Aire, Accent, Rolling Stone Mexico, Chilango, Travel & Leisure, Lenscratch, The Aquarian Daily, and Der Greif.
Her adventures also include being a still photograher in international documentaries like Insurgentes, and short films like Silla Eléctrica para moscas.
Invited speaker at TEDxTukuy 2020.
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The Unperson Project Curriculum Vitae
Solo Exhibitions
2022 “El anti-archivo” curated by Robelo Zerón, Táctica, Cholula, Puebla
Group Exhibitions
2023 MOP Denver, Alto Gallery. Denver, Co.
2023 Print Pals 8M. Mexico City
2023 QIPO FAIR + OJO, Edificio Dondé. Mexico City
2022 OJO + AMIGXS POP UP / PRINTS. Casa Versalles, Mexico City
2021 The Big Picture Colorado, The Temple, Denver, Co.
2021 “Tales From The Crypto”, Otra Feria/Proyecto B, Argentina/Mexico
2021 Muestra itinerante de video arte, ‘Paréntesis’. Puebla, MX
2021 ‘Three Acts: A Survey Of Shame, Emotion And Oblivion’, Redline Contemporary Art Center. Denver, Co.
2021 ‘Feel Me’ curated by Lee LaBier, Bleue Tile Gallery, Denver, Co.
2021 ‘Objects, Being, Essence and Notion’, Alto Gallery, Denver, Co.
2021 ‘The Big Picture 2021’, Redline Contemporary Art Center. Denver, Co.
2021 Night Lights Denver, D&F Tower, Denver, Co.
2020 ‘Espacio Vera’, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Lima. Lima, Peru.
Press
2021 December magazine Vol. 32.1 Spring/Summer
2021 Lenscratch, “Focus On Vernacular: The Unperson Project”
2021 The Know/The Denver Post “Redline’s ‘Three acts’ asks dozens of photographers to capture aspects of an unsettling era
2021 ERRR Magazine, “Vaporizadas”
2021 The Know/The Denver Post, “Three Acts: A Survey of Shame, Emotion, and Oblivion”
2021 New Collection. “Mutable & Elusive: Power of the Unperson”.
2020 Lenscratch, “2020 Favourite Photos”
2020 Der Greif, “Selection by Marie Gomis-Trezise”.
2018 El Siglo de Durango, “The Unperson Project: Una cicatriz del olvido”
2018 Hoja Santa, “Apetito por la vida, The Unperson Project”.
2018 Chilango, “Vaporiza sus fotos y olvida a tu ex con The Unperson Project”
2017 L’Officiel Mexico, “Sin Pasado”
Artwork
2022 Book cover “¿Por qué Lacan? Christian Dunker. Paradiso Editores
2021 Series of album covers for Rufus Kluge
2018 Ep cover “Broken Hard Drive Dives” Prefuse 73
Music Collaborations
Bass Communion
Edgar Mondragón
Luis Guillermo Pinzón
Talks
2023 Volúmen 2 (Helen Escobedo Ambientes Totales) del seminario Humanizar el Archivo: Un proyecto de investigación de Primal Studio. Arte Alameda.
2021 “The Unperson Talks”, Ciycle 1: February-April
Radio
2021 Aire Libre 105.3
2019 Aire Libre 105.3
2017 IMER, La feria, carrusel cultural, “Juan Solís habla sobre The Unperson Project”
2017 IBERO RADIO 90.9
Podcasts
2022 La Forja, Intento de olvido, entrevista a Andrea Tejeda
2021 Pata de Mono T2 E45, Cicatrices de olvido
2021 Live Show Remotas Primer Aniversario, Centro Galera, CDMX
2021 Remotas Podcast T2 E2, “Que la grieta no se haga más grande.
