Less than one year after returning to Uruguay, Joaquín Torres García (JTG) was already doubtful about the reception his teaching was finding in the country and aware of the indifference of an eclectic local intellectual milieu disinclined to radical criticism. In that context, the artist saw himself as the bearer and tireless spokesman of a mystical and providential truth, an apostle: “It is not I who speaks […], I am nothing but a transmission device; the voice comes from elsewhere and, hence, it will never be silenced.” That enigmatic biblical voice attempted to take root in a profane context marked by the practical discussions of local positivism—discussions that it hoped to displace for good. JTG goes further, stating “Christ said—with good reason—that those who believe will be saved, and that can be applied to our case.” The Constructivist discourse therefore became almost like the doctrine of a religious sect. Although he does not entirely renounce attempting to root Constructivism in history and reason, the artist begins to express it as a question of faith, the faith of a preacher fighting against “mediocre” nonbelievers. Two things stand out in this text. The first is the fact that JTG calls on his disciples to engage in meditation and to undertake the construction in Uruguay—indeed in South America in general—of a language. They should do so “with the conviction that we can do something here more powerful than what has been done of late in Europe […], we have a sense of calm that is not to be found in Europe, one that allows us to meditate and to take action.” Torres García echoed those words in June 1934 in an interview with the dictator, President Gabriel Terra, in which he sought—and obtained—government support for a monumental project that would place Uruguay at the forefront of the international avant-garde. The second item of note in this lecture is reference to an aesthetic model for industrial objects: “We must not fear [color’s] dazzling force, for our retina can withstand it, nor [must we fear] the bright, the squared or the smoothed [but rather] admire the industrial object in its perfection.” Later, JTG would retract such affirmations, voicing his disdain for all “flashy” “modern” things. In the same vein, he rejected industrial objects, occasioning, in 1946, severe criticism from Tomás Maldonado, who called Torres García’s painting “medieval obscurantism.” [For further reading, see the following texts by Joaquín Torres García in the ICAA digital archive: “Con respecto a una futura creación literaria” (730292); “Lección 132. El hombre americano y el arte de América” (832022); “Mi opinión sobre la exposición de artistas norteamericanos: contribución” (833512); “Nuestro problema de arte en América: lección VI del ciclo de conferencias dictado en la Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de Montevideo” (731106); “Introducción [en] Universalismo Constructivo” (1242032); “Sentido de lo moderno [en Universalismo Constructivo]” (1242015); “Bases y fundamentos del arte constructivo” (1242058); and “Manifiesto 2, Constructivo 100%” (1250878)].
