Vita Vel Regula (2013 — 2097)

 

 

 

 

 

Pablo_Helguera_Vita_Vel_Regula-1

 

On February 28 of 2013, at the Renata Bianconi gallery in Milano, Italy, I presented a work entitled Vita Vel Regula (Rules of Life). The work is a game for 50 participants, to be played only once. It consists in each participant receiving 16 sealed envelopes labeled with specific opening dates and instructions. The game started on March 1st, 2013, and will end on November 23, 2097, or with the passing of the last participant. I am not likely to live to see the end of this project.

 

I have invited 25 participants,  all of them younger than me and who are likely to outlive me, and with whom I currently share a strong family, personal or professional relationship,  to participate in this project. The 25 remaining participants will include those who attend the opening of the gallery that night.

 

 

 

The first envelope, containing a set of instructions, is due to be opened the day after the opening, March 1, 2013. The second envelope will be opened twice the amount of time after the first envelope, the third envelope twice the amount of time than the second, and so forth.  As the days space between each other between envelope and envelope, the waiting times become months, years and then decades. the 12th envelope is due to be opened on May 27th, 2019,  the 13th on August 13 of 2030, the 14th on January 16 of 2053, and finally the 15th on November 23, 2097. My daughter Estela, the youngest participant who is now 3, if alive then, will be 88 years old. The 16th envelope is due to be opened at the time of my own passing.

Because of its design and its posthumous conclusion, Vita Vel Regula will be my last art work.

 

 

 

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3 Responses to “Vita Vel Regula (2013 — 2097)”

  1. Namnezia says:

    It will be your last artwork, unless they forget to open the last envelope.

  2. The sense if the passage of time built into the “game” is very beautiful and evocative of lived experience and memory, in this case projected forward in time. But how is this art? Who will experience this over time beyond the participants? Is there any documentation or sharing of the contents of the envelopes and the actions, if any, which ensue ? The question of the sound of a tree falling in a forest comes to mind. A time capsule, which the envelopes are in a sense, must be dug-up, opened and remarked upon.

  3. […] was read at the Renata Bianconi gallery in Milano on February 28, 2013, to launch the project Vita Vel Regula. 30 participants at the gallery volunteered to play the game for the rest of their lives, as well […]