About

Mariana Castillo Deball (born 1975) is an artist who won the Prix de Rome, Amsterdam, for her project and the accompanying publication Institute of Chance. Prior to that, she worked as a Researcher in Fine Art at the Jan van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, in 2002 and 2003. Together with artist Irene Kopelman she is the initiator of the Ugbar Foundation, a fund that organizes interdisciplinary projects in the fields of science and history. Recent publications include: Report (Not Announcement), BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht and e-flux (2006), Interlude: The Reader’s Traces (2005), and Never Odd or Even (2005). Recent exhibitions include: undo redo, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, 2006 and Mercury in Retrograde, De Appel, Amsterdam, 2006. Castillo Deball lives and works in Amsterdam and Berlin.

Mariana Castillo Deball’s practice resembles archeological or anthropological investigation into the fields of scientific studies in the past and present society. With playful irony and wit, Deball’s projects intervene in existing systems of knowledge and learning, and create a niche wherein one can observe and imagine a new way of investigating and distributing knowledge. Taking a short break from production and public presentation (while nevertheless contributing to BAK’s project Concerning Knowledge Production (2006), Deball spends her residence in “constructive retreat” and conducts preliminary research for upcoming projects.