If I had to say where I come from, I would say from Lascaux. The memory of human history flows in my genes, a society which has been transhumant from the beginning, tireless traveller in search of a place to settle, but ready to conquer the universe…
A man walked to ‘make way’, creating pathways, indicating to his fellowman the best step. Romans improved roads with their stone walkways; I imagine the sound of legions approaching along those paths, thunderous, invading, protecting… Evolution by means of locomotion opened new roads and ways of travelling, faster, in which perhaps we have only lost attention to our surroundings, as I indicated at the beginning of this exhibition. Le Breton tells us that the car driver is the man of oblivion; it is true that in my travels I do not remember everything, but there are always elements standing out over others whether they are architectural, vegetal, animal, clouds playing in the sky… and that is when colours flood through my eyes, and give shape to this project.
Just as our way of travelling has evolved throughout history, travelling notebooks have moved from paper to mobile devices (at least in my case). I no longer draw on my notebook, I take photographs from the environment, I mark my ‘I was here’ with that memory, my readings have gone from paper annotations to capturing that phrase with my camera, some end up being used in social networks while others simply remain as a file. Those same social networks give me access to other users who provide useful information for my projects, as you can observe. Therefore, the final decision in the elaboration of this travelling notebook ends up having this shape. I hope you enjoy this trip, as much as I do in each of my travels.
Antonio Navarro
