Daniel Lind-Ramos: El Viejo Griot at MoMa PS1

 Daniel Lind-Ramos uses found objects of personal and universal significance to create sculptures and video installations. “El Viejo Griot” draws on experiences of Hurricane Maria and the COVID-19 pandemic. His sculptures are monumental in height and are three-dimensional, with many lacking a dominating frontal view. The works are contrived in a way that allows viewers to experience multiple angles of them. Some sculptures are placed against the gallery walls, while others are centrally placed in individual gallery rooms. By isolating select works, the viewer has the opportunity to experience them in an intimate setting. This quiet and potentially lonesome environment allows room for self-reflection with Lind-Ramos’ ideas of recalling and overcoming tragedy. 

More specifically, “Ambulance” (2020) forms an emergency vehicle with objects such as a megaphone, emergency lights, and the skeleton of a mattress. The sculpture recalls the COVID-19 lockdown and its impact. This work benefits from its central placement in the room to observe all sides of the makeshift vehicle. The isolation of the sculpture also emphasizes the importance of reflecting on one’s own experience during the peak of the pandemic. Lind-Ramos is also referencing earth elements, which is evident in “María Guabancex” (2018-2022). Guabancex is the spirit known as “the lady of the winds.” This conglomerate of materials he found after Hurricane Maria in 2017, including pieces of roofing, electric cables, and plastic tubing, creates the illusion of a spiraling motion. The assemblage of the materials seems to be referencing that of a barraca, a type of temporary structure that provides refuge. This work successfully mimics the natural disaster Puerto Rico faced, and how the local community adjoined during challenging times.

- Rose