A Galon for a Missing Engine, CAC Quito, 2025

A mild steel automotive lubricant bottle produced using mechanical machinery techniques and tools in Duran, Guayas.

Essential to the functioning of mechanical engines, oil lubricants underpin not only industrial development but also allow the mobility in Ecuador, where the majority of goods, commodities, and civil society are transported by vehicles daily. The project focuses on the well known lubricant bottle, an object that symbolises the democratisation of car maintenance and embodies the intricate connections between petroleum extraction, oil production and the expanding car industry. Drawing on the tools and techniques (metal torn, milling machine, lathe, etc.) of a heritage workshop originally dedicated to building oil production machinery, we propose to reimagine the lubricant bottle from a critical perspective. By deconstructing its materiality and cultural significance, this project seeks to portray the complexities and open new imaginaries around the oil industry in Ecuador, confronting its environmental, social, and economic complexities while challenging the narrative of progress tied to fossil fuel dependency and foreign industries.

Exhibited at Contemporary Art Center of Quito as part of the Mariano Aguilera National Prize final show.

Produced in a collaboration with Alfredo Ramírez Raymond and Tin Ayala. Thanks Juan Emilio Jiménez for production assistance and exhibition photography.

The project development is supported by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Mariano Aguilera National Prize.