Ways of Knowing

Inspired by pedagogy, Ways of Knowing investigates how learning processes feed into systemic ways of thinking that dictate society's relationships to land, property, and boundaries. Luciano Pimienta considers how land is commodified rather than something of the commons and how symbolism is used to solicit boundaries of ownership. Pimienta questions why we subscribe to ideas of property, where borders of what is someone's and their neighbor's stop and start, and how these concepts influence lived experiences of space.

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Pimienta uses signage to create recognizable signifiers that indicate who is an insider or outsider. He challenges these notions of inclusion and exclusion by playing with temporalities in his mediums. Clay in the gallery is found in different stages of being: dissolving unfired clay sculptures, silkscreened raw clay soil on the wall, wall paintings of clay slip, and fired clay sculptures. His clay works are placed with carved, living nopal that personify the land but also delineate perimeters and beautify property. All of these works juxtapositions of the signage they embody. The ephemerality or longevity of each work blurs the lines of what we see or how we expect them to function and destabilizes the conditioned ways of thinking about belonging.