Author: Juan A. Esteban
-
There is no neutral map
Exactly 504 years ago, on 6 September 1522, a vessel named Victoria arrived in Sanlúcar with eighteen survivors from an expedition that had departed with over two hundred. Juan Sebastián Elcano was in command, and this arrival marked the completion of the first circumnavigation of the globe. They did not demonstrate that the Earth was round—that...
-
I am sitting in a room
In 1969, the American composer Alvin Lucier created a work consisting entirely of a procedure. He sat in a room, recorded his voice reading a brief text, and played that recording through a loudspeaker in the same room while simultaneously recording it again with a microphone. He then played that second recording and recorded it a...
-
For want of a comma
Una sentencia de un tribunal federal estadounidense, de marzo de 2017, empieza con una frase que parece de fábula: «Por falta de una coma, tenemos este caso». No es una licencia literaria del juez, es la descripción de lo que había sobre la mesa. Un grupo de conductores de una empresa láctea de Maine, Oakhurst…
-
You press the button
En 1888, una empresa de Rochester puso a la venta una cámara con un eslogan que resumía algo más grande que un producto: «Usted aprieta el botón, nosotros hacemos el resto». La cámara se llamaba Kodak, la frase se atribuye a su fundador, George Eastman, y esas siete palabras describían, sin que nadie lo notara…
-
Reserved for another position
In the National Gallery in London hangs a painting from 1533 that almost everyone views incorrectly, and not through oversight: it is because the artist intended it so. It is The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger. Two powerful, young, and wealthy men stand posing amidst the objects of their world: terrestrial and celestial globes,...
-
Extras in another person's video
A finales de julio de 2026, una pequeña tienda de artesanía y antigüedades de Nantucket colgó en su interior un cartel de madera con la estética náutica del lugar que decía: «Prohibidos los influencers». La foto corrió por internet y estalló la polémica. Unos aplaudieron al comercio; otros, lo acusaron de despreciar una profesión. Pero…
-
To declare is not to demonstrate
A comienzos de 2026, Elon Musk escribió en su red social cinco palabras: «Hemos entrado en la Singularidad». Meses después, en un pódcast, Sam Altman dijo que estábamos «como dentro de la singularidad». Dos de las personas más poderosas de la industria tecnológica anunciaban, con la naturalidad de quien comenta el tiempo, que la humanidad…
-
Vulnerability as material
At the 2024 Venice Biennale, the Holy See pavilion was installed within a women's prison. The inmates guided the tours and authored a portion of the texts. At the 2026 Malta Biennale, nine prisoners from Corradino exhibited their work in a historic armoury. An Italian foundation carries on...
-
Harold’s arrow
Almost everyone has seen, perhaps without realising it, a scene from the Bayeux Tapestry: a warrior standing with his hand to his face, an arrow embedded in his eye, beneath the embroidered word HAROLD. Perhaps that arrow was not embroidered by anyone in the eleventh century, but rather by a hand from the…
-
Finish no longer serves as proof
For centuries, a work well executed spoke volumes of its creator: a polished surface, precise draughtsmanship, a refined voice, a clean development, the visible mark of a craft. Achieving such standards required time, study, and trained hands. The finish served as a credential. Upon observation, one could discern the skill behind it, and that skill was part of the…