Zhivago Duncan

PRIMITIVE ROMANTIC
Nov 28, 2024

In a present where technological urgency and the acceleration of progress have saturated the collective consciousness, 𝙍𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙢 emerges as an invitation to return to the primordial, to that which precedes and shapes us. Amid the clamor of contemporary life, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴. Here, what once seemed distant becomes close, what was real transforms into illusion, and the foundational myths resonate as echoes that still speak to us of origin and destiny. The work of 𝗭𝗵𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗴𝗼 𝗗𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗮𝗻 is not simply a contemplation of the past, but a practice that underscores our ongoing reconfiguration as human beings, trapped between ancestral memory and the pressure of an uncertain future.

Through his romantic primitivism, 𝗗𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗮𝗻 opens a door to that liminal space where chaos and order, the natural and the human, are not perceived as opposites but as intertwined co-created forces. This intersection, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 "𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥" in his Hero’s Journey, is a space of transformation. In Duncan’s works, the cosmic order is not defined by rigid stability, but by continuous tension, where creation and destruction feed into one another. In this journey, 𝗗𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗮𝗻 does not merely reflect on the distortions of progress but invites us to inhabit that threshold, to question and reconnect with the primordial archetypes embedded in our collective memory—those ancient myths that emerge as responses to the deepest questions of existence.

𝗗𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗮𝗻’s work reflects the profound ambiguity that accompanies both the light and darkness of origins—a visual language that does not seek nostalgia or idealization of the past, but rather a symbolic reconstruction of the essential. 𝘈𝘴 𝘓𝘺𝘯𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘣 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘴. In this sense, 𝗗𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗮𝗻’s romantic primitivism is not a return to the past, but an act of reconnection with natural cycles, with that primal energy that constitutes the very essence of life. Through his work, 𝗗𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗮𝗻 reconfigures creation myths, the stories that narrate the first sparks of consciousness and the eternal cycle of life and death. This return to the primordial is not about nostalgia but a need to reestablish a visceral connection to the earth, to the myths that sustain not only humanity but the ecosystem we share with nature.

In 𝙍𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙢, chaos is not the denial of order but the creative force that shapes all that exists. 𝗗𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗮𝗻 materializes this vision in his sculptures and paintings, where life and death, instinct and consciousness, are intertwined in an organic dance. The human faces that emerge from the thick vegetation are not just symbols of our vulnerability but of our capacity to rise again from the ruins of primordial chaos. This return to origins is also a journey toward the future, where humanity, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦, faces its disconnection from nature as if its consciousness is caught in a paradox: technological progress as an extension of the same primordial energy that shaped the earth. In this context, 𝙍𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙢 emerges not only as an artistic response but as a philosophical reflection on the dissonance between human beings and their environment, between primal chaos and imposed order, reminding us that our understanding of existence remains a continuous process of construction.

Mariana Mañon Sepulveda
Museo MARCO, 2024