Muñoz made self-portraits using charcoal dust on water. The images float on the water's surface but they slowly disappear. This is supposed to show how identity and memory can fade over time.

Connection to the course: abjection: no beauty to the painted faces and a grim message, not a pleasant viewing experience for the audience

Colombian, Oscar Muñoz. “Oscar Muñoz: Narcisos.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1 Jan. 1995, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/827985.

In this display, people breathe on shiny steel discs, and their breath reveals hidden photos. The photos vanish as the surface cools, showing how human presence is temporary.

Connection to the course: Alberti in "Objects and the Museum" argues that objects in museums get their meaning from the way they are displayed and how people view them. The way the viewer's breath momentarily reveals portraits on the steel discs, emphasizes the role of the audience in determining the significance of the piece.

Graham, Amanda Jane. “Assisted Breathing: Developing Embodied Exposure in Oscar Muñoz’s ‘Aliento.’” Latin American Perspectives, vol. 39, no. 3, 2012, pp. 63–73. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23238982. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.

In this piece, Óscar Muñoz printed human figures on plastic shower curtains using acrylic paint. The images look like people standing behind the curtains, creating a ghostly, almost invisible effect that once again, reflects the themes of the fragility of human existence

Connection to the course: "Beauty and Abjection", the shower is a private space, not meant to be viewed by an audience. "Genius and Gender": a modern version of the female nude with a different intention behind it

Bunyan, A. D. M. (2014, September 13). Oscar Muñoz Línea del destino – Art Blart art and cultural memory archive. Art Blart Art and Cultural Memory Archive. https://artblart.com/tag/oscar-munoz-linea-del-destino/