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On the Edge, a two-channel video by Miguel Angel Rios, involves a large number of spinning tops distinguished by color. The installation immerses the audience within the frenetic activity and sound of the whirling of spinning tops. The random interaction between the spinning tops is choreographed to insinuate the struggle for power in society. White spinning tops are dominant and take the central stage preventing the access of “others” that are subordinate to them by patrolling their territory by spinning back and forth. Meanwhile, the subordinate black spinning tops come from a lower level and attempt to access the higher ground controlled by the white ones. On the Edge stages a dangerous game as a metaphor for the battle for social supremacy.
As with Rios’ previous work (sculpture and mixed media installations) the artist focuses on the European conquest of Latin America. On the Edge follows Don’t Look for Me You Won’t Find Me, a 2003 video in which the artist encounters the visionary power of the Mexican desert. Discovery of the Amazon, a collaborative piece done with Sergio Vega explored the apocryphal battle of an early explorer with the “amazons”, indigenous women-warriors. Rios was born in Argentina and divides his time between Mexico City and New York. He has shown his work extensively in America and Europe, with recent solo exhibitions at LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) and the Hirschorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and group exhibitions at the Shaghai Doulon Museum of Modern Art, the Miami Art Museum, and the Phoenix Art Museum.
