It is difficult to separate the two approaches because they are generally intertwined: social demands or petitions are the basis for installations, performances, videos or processes that narrate the action. This creative practice activates socio-cultural energies and even if the peculiarities of the content or the paths followed to reach them are respected, the results can involve a strong analytical dose that increases the richness and complexity of the content on which the pieces are based.

As the Cuban critic Mailyn Machado points out, the works of these artists follow the logic of daily survival,(2) and such work calls for an appreciation of the characteristics of its aesthetic forms —colors, nuances, tones and meaningsówhich in most cases form part of the culture of laughter, oral culture, habits, customs and beliefs.

Social contradictions, the paths followed to represent subsistence, are the main source of inspiration for the majority of the pieces, although this is not in tune with the interests of promoting an officially stipulated social project. Despite this, although they bear no influence on the world of Cuban art, the creative results of this behavioral art course shown in different types of exhibitions have created a cultural atmosphere that wafts like a silent cloud over that particular world.

The new Cuban art,(3) in spite of being strongly imbued with the relations between art and society, has deployed its three main creative lines along a broader meaning of art: the anthropological line, the vernacular —kitschóand the sociological-critical, while placing special emphasis on neo-conceptual and neo-minimal trends. Issues concerning the discourse of art, its different functions, the nuances and levels in which aesthetic value can be manifested, have therefore been continually present in Cuban art.

In the works that I will be commenting on, there is a significant interconnection between those lines and the means adopted for creation, these being the social insertion of art and art featuring social content. Although the anthropological line predominates, it mainly pursues content involving parody or simulation, which implies a different attitude towards art, given the times have changed. Different blends of politics, ideology and critical reflection arise from delving into the most personal, private aspects of daily life. There are no major storylines or utopias, but there is an intense sensitivity and a focus on culture and society that links them to art undertaken since the eighties.

The art-life relation or that between life and art will continue to be reflected in content that is kitsch, vernacular, anthropological or leans towards social criticism, and in keeping with the international art movement, video art and documentary video are the most common media used by the group.

Dr. Magaly Espinosa

Note:

* I would like to thank the students and graduates of the course for their assistance in preparing this text. Their suggestions have been very valuable, in some cases in helping me to understand the meaning of the works, and in others to be able to reflect on the project as a whole.

Quotes:

(1) This idea of viewing the course as something that has turned a pedagogical project into an active exchange of artistic experiences is promoted by some of the Cuban critics and theorists who are following the projectí­s development.

(2) Mailyn Machado. "Mirar los 80" Taken from the catalogue of the "Ni a favor ni en contra, todo lo contrario"exhibition. Facultad de Artes y Letras, Universidad de la Habana, 2007, page 10.

(3) The new Cuban art is a process of formal renovation and renewal of content that began with the "Volumen I" exhibition in 1981, which updated the presence of the international language of art and of socio-cultural content dealing with the Cuban reality.