This document contains two texts, one by Rubén Santantonín and another by Kenneth Kemble, as well as a reproduction of the work by Santantonín that was part of the national selections for the 1963 Premio Internacional de Pintura del Intituto Torcuato Di Tella [Instituto Torcuato Di Tella International Prize in Painting] (Buenos Aires). Santantonín poses a direct relationship between the possibility “to imagine” and the characteristics of the time in which he lives; he brands it “pobre pero nuevo” [“poor but new”], “insólito pero vital” [“unusual but vital”], “precario pero verídico” [“precarious, but true.”] Kemble, for his part, emphasizes the “originalidad” [“originality”] of Santantonín’s work; he considers him “como uno de los pocos auténticos creadores (…) en la Argentina” [“one of the few authentic artists (…) in Argentina.”]

Rubén Santantonín (1919-1969) coined the term “cosas” [“things”] for his artistic production. He used the term to refer to cardboard reliefs, which were meant to be exhibited on supporting walls, as well as to hanging objects, created with rudimentary materials such as plaster, cloth, cardboard and wire.  In 1965 Rubén Santantonín burned all his works—there remain a few reproductions—and, as such, the photographic records within catalogs and brochures acquired special significance.  The Premio Instituto Torcuato Di Tella was established in 1960, a few months after the creation of the Centro de Arte del Instituto Torcuato Di Tella (ITDT) [Art Center at the Torcuato Di Tella Institute]. The latter organization was run by a board composed of Lionello Venturi, Ricardo Camino, Guido Di Tella and Jorge Romero Brest. The Centro was dedicated to the dissemination and promotion of the visual arts as well as to maintaining contact with other centers linked to national and foreign production. The Premio ITDT was created within this framework with the intention of awarding opportunities to young Argentinean artists to enrich their experiences abroad; nevertheless, the Premio ITDT not only awarded prizes/scholarships, but also favored the dissemination of international art within the local scene. This made it an important institution for the renovation of the visual arts at the time. The prize was awarded to both national and international artists until 1967, with a few variations according to the given year. In 1967 it became known as the Experiencias Visuales [Visual Practices]. Later, in 1968 and 1969 it became known solely as Experiencias [Practices]. In 1963 Romero Brest resigned as Director of the Museo National de Bellas Artes and accepted the position of Director of the Centro de Artes Visuales of the ITDT.  Kenneth Kemble is one of the most significant figures in art at the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s; he is an essential source for informalism in Argentina, not only for his own aesthetic production, but also for his role as a critic. As a critic he played a fundamental role in the dissemination of information throughout the country regarding artistic trends developed simultaneously abroad.