The presidential elections of 2018 were the frst in the era of social media, where the militancy and the voice of the Mexican people seemed to merge into a collective “I”, in frst person, eager to be something more than a spectator of a political history that gives the feeling of having always been told by “others”.

The Latin American media has always been great partner of the ruling classes and has managed much more than the elections throughout history. Social media came to give us the illusion that this era was over and that we could take “democracy” in our hands. That we were the main characters and no longer secondary to the reality that we live.

But is it not this feeling of participation and belonging to which only a minority of society can approach, an illusion? The Internet is present on smart phones, as the newspaper is on the streets.

Diego Berruecos (Mexico, 1979) refects through his artistic practice on political events and the ethical as well as aesthetical construction of politics in Mexico. His new individual exhibition, Obstinada contemplación del trabajo del mañana, (Obstinate contemplation of the work of tomorrow), continues on this path. As well as his obsession with the passage of time, repetition as a form of temporality and his secret job as an amateur researcher, to which he now successfully adds his work experience as a photo editor in print media.

During the 120 days before the elections, Berruecos bought the newspaper religiously every morning and photographed himself holding it, showing the day’s headlines to the camera. In a same roll, he was recording the progress of time and the diferent editorial lines that were woven from it. Forging an immediate past in the action of capturing that present. Each roll of photos left a strip of contacts as a result. 36 photos that stand for themselves and as a whole and that trigger, from an apparent simplicity, a complex series of data.

Berruecos stands in front of the spectator, displaying this information in his face in a gesture that reminds us of the evidence of life sent by the kidnappers to the families of the abductees. The question is imposed: Will we be able to free ourselves?