The narration of artist Jill Magid moves through corners and rooms, over the slow panning shots of Casa Luis Barragán. A quivering ambient hum underlies her voice, filling the house, at times imperceptible before murmuring into melody or bleeding into rhythm.
In the tranquil outdoor courtyard of the house, nestled privately in a Mexico City neighbourhood, accent walls are situated organically around a waterfall and reflecting pools, grey stone sculptures and red clay vessels. All is water, clay, leaves, and cement arranged in shifting angles, like a Zen garden in an M.C. Escher universe.
It is the preserved home of acclaimed Mexican architect Luis Barragán (1902–1988) and a primary location at the heart of Magid’s unconventional feature documentary film The Proposal (2018, Oscilloscope Laboratories). The story follows the New York-based conceptual artist’s journey into an international artworld conflict surrounding the legacy of Barragán’s archives, embattled in a tense relationship that pits cultural value against the capitalist pillar of private ownership.
The Proposal developed from a years-long personal dialogue with Federica Zanco, the private owner of Barragán’s professional archives in Switzerland, which culminates in a climactic ‘proposal’ to Zanco: the exchange of the archives back to Mexico for a diamond ring made from Barragán’s ashes — the body for the body of the work. Ultimately, Magid’s close engagement with archives establishes her as an emergent key figure in a stunning — and controversial- new chapter.