In October, 2009, artist and researcher Jorge Luis Vaca interviewed sculptor María Consuelo García for a research project entitled “Espacio, Tiempo; Movimiento: Análisis de Tres Prácticas en el Arte Colombiano” carried out for the Bogotá-based Universidad de los Andes’s program in the history and theory of modern and contemporary art. The questions address García’s relationship with technology; the reasons for her interest in the video medium; the local socio-political conditions surrounding her production; and the use of space and time in the work Juego Número 1 [Game Number 1] (1986). García’s responses shed light on her position on technology, which she views as a means to an end, mainly, art. Thus, the interview evidences García’s early interest in the so-called “electronic media.”

This interview provides insight on the work Juego Número 1 produced by María Consuelo García (b. 1953) in 1978, the first video-installation to receive widespread recognition in Colombia. Specifically, that piece was awarded second prize at the government-sponsored Salón Regional de Artes Visuales in Tunja and first prize at the XXVIII Salón Nacional de Artes Visuales held in 1986.

At the beginning of the interview, Jorge Luis Vaca (b. 1985) inquires about the concept of “technology” formulated by the artist in the construction of her work. García believes that, by means of technology, it is possible to engage in a constant redefinition of cultural and social contexts, thus facilitating physical and conceptual experimentation in art. She underscores the importance of her choice of video, understood as a “new medium.” In her view, the video medium makes it possible to capture images in time that can later be repeated to enable interaction with the public. Also pertinent is the political and social context in which her work was produced, specifically events like the military occupation of the Bogotá campus of the Universidad Nacional from 1966 to 1970 under President Carlos Lleras Restrepo.

María Consuelo García was awarded a degree in art with a concentration in sculpture from the Universidad Nacional of Colombia in 1980. In 1984, she received a degree from St. Martin School of Art in London. Since 1992, she has taught at the Universidad Nacional of Colombia and the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá. Exhibitions featuring her work include Abstracción y Figuración (1986) at the Museo de Arte, Arte y Objeto (1999) at the Universidad de los Andes, and Imaginarios (2004) at the Universidad Nacional’s museum of art.