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Tonalpohualli, Chicago 2018
Perforated strips of aluminum with electrostatic painting, wood joints
Courtesy of the artist and kurimanzutto

In the Mesoamerican cosmogony, the tonalpohualli allows us to count the energy that flows through the cosmos, known as tonalli. Beyond measuring time, this calendar included a prophetic system that combined spatial coordinates with the cycles of agriculture and ritual sacrifices. The tonalpohualli described the succession of 20 periods of 13 days each, ruled by a sign or energy (I- Crocodile, II- Wind, III- House, IV- Lizard, etc.). This series combines with that of the thirteen days, together allowing for 260 different combinations or dates, equivalent to 260 days.

Castillo Deball takes Nahua timekeeping as a jumping-off point for exploring different ways of conceptualizing space-time. In the installation Tonalpohualli, the artist takes up the organization of this cosmological day count as it appears in the Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, a precolonial manuscript in which the 260 days are represented by circular spaces along a strip that runs along the border of the central panel. The strip then forms a cross, each arm representing one of the cardinal directions, which are also represented by different colors: red for the east, yellow for the north, blue for the west and green for the south. Castillo Deball makes the tonalpohualli tangible through 20 aluminum strips, each one with 13 perforations, held together by wooden joints carved with the 20 signs corresponding to each period. The installation folds out into space, inviting us to measure the gallery either through distance or time.

go to Codex Humboldt Fragment 1/Codex Azoyú Reverse 2