It's been a while since I had forgotten about this, but I definitely take pleasure in keeping a journal so that it remains lost in the digital future—my thoughts and the trail continue to be tracked, at least as long as technology exists to read these things.

After 2015, I spend my days working for Knotion, a company that produces educational content in digital format.

Just last month, Eduardo Perez Arroyo conducted a very nice interview with me for the digital magazine e-knotion, where I talked a bit about my past.

I'm copying it into this blog.

Thank you Lalo Perez , Thank Knotion.
Eduardo Perez Arroyo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eduardo-p%C3%A9rez-arroyo-79781757/

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René Serrano: The Art of Turning Life into Art

Historias Genius

December 2018

Selfportrait Tournai, BE 2001

"If a man knew how many years he has left in life,

he would surely make better use of them."

Seneca, On the Shortness of Life.

"He rejected a future as a business administrator in Mexico, went to Europe several times to study art, made friends, had girlfriends, and drank dozens of coffees in front of a historic cathedral that brings together two different times. On the other side: he spent weeks without a penny in his pocket, slept in ATMs and coastal caves, and for food, he rescued what others discarded. After that journey, René Serrano is one of the emblematic faces of Knotion, and of the visual arts in the country. This is a story of when life becomes art."

By Eduardo Pérez Arroyo

"To the monks, warriors, and peasants are added urban bourgeoisie who want to dispute power. Meanwhile, an epidemic ravages the city. Bishop Radbod proposes days of penance and a Grand Procession around the city threatened with death. The gravediggers can barely keep up with removing the bodies piling up in the streets. Many of them are actually thieves and take advantage to rob the houses of the dead. The church, despite controlling the militia, is more concerned with surviving than restoring order, just watching from afar.

—It sounds like a chapter from Game of Thrones —he narrates exactly 920 years later, from the third floor of his house at the foot of the Loma de Santa María, René Serrano—. But it is the story of Tournai "It's about the city where he lived for several years.

—Every day, passing by the Cathedral, I imagined those stories."

Tournai, grand place. BE.

"It was shortly after arriving in Europe for the second time, much to the horror of his parents, to study something that was truly his. In Tournai, he studied, graduated, made music, friends from all over the world, and countless times sat down with a coffee and a croissant to contemplate the city, the world, and his own life."

Photo : Tournai city

"There is a book," he explains, "The Accursed Kings. Predecessor to Game of Thrones. One of the most interesting chapters, which narrates the Frankish invasion of the Flemish, unfolds in those streets.

Temporal and geographical leaps between Tournai, Brussels, Madrid, Tenerife, and Loma de Santa María, along with other explorations of topics such as medieval battles, the taste of croissants along the Scheldt River, or the transition from Romanesque to Gothic art, are normal in a conversation with him. Since his adolescence, he understood that a human being must find their place and, in the process, become a citizen of the world. Some are born to move physically and spiritually, to seek transcendence, to find answers that almost never come but, in the quest, transform them into someone else. René Serrano is one of those."

"There's a song," he asserts. "Although it sounds strange, I discovered it in part thanks to her. I was dating a girl, and I always thought: I'm not comfortable with my life."a.

"One day, talking with her, the song played. It was 'Time' by Pink Floyd, which talks about when its authors realized that, even at almost 30 years old, they were still waiting for life to begin."

“Kicking around on a piece of ground in your hometown/ Waiting for someone or something to show you the way…”.

"She told me: listen to that song. And I said: it's true. It's now or never."

Abbey Road. London. 1997

"René was not 28, but almost when he left for the first time. When you're almost 20 and still waiting for your life to begin, you're willing to do things you won't do at 30, or at 40. René Serrano did things that today, at 43, he wouldn't do. Some joyful and others not so much. All of them gave him new perspectives on the world and filled him with stories that today, from the third floor of his house at the foot of La Loma, allow him to easily fill several hours of conversation."

1995 Student years. Business faculty of . Inst. Tecnológico de Morelia.

Radio show at Business faculty of . Inst. Tecnológico de Morelia.
1995

René Serrano turned his life into art.

A SPANISH CAVE'

I sold a guitar and got myself a ticket to Europe,' says René. 'Why Europe? I don't know. There was a friend in Madrid.'

His parents, he says, were not happy. 'They probably thought: let him go, let him get bored once and for all, and let him come back... I don't know.'"

1997 Madrid. Parque del retiro

"His friend, in the end, wasn't around. He had to start from scratch.

'I didn't have a penny. We slept and lived wherever we could. With a friend, we calculated: we could make it to Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. At least it was warm there.'"

In the Canary Islands, another friend was supposed to give him a job. He didn't. The Franks trying to advance to the land of the Flemish probably felt the same when, on the way, they found that for days, no one welcomed them.

'We stayed in a campsite, but soon we couldn't afford it. I lived in a tent. I set it up in a cave, with big rocks, in El Palmar.'"

Camping Nauta Tenerife. Canarian Islands. 1997

From Teide. Tenerife

"Even in that area, thousands of European retirees spent their pensions. During the day, I worked in whatever I could.

'I played the guitar in bars, or invited people to enter restaurants. They paid me little, but I had food. I had a good time. I went for the winter, but I stayed for five months.

When you're 20 years old and live in another country and don't know what will happen the next day, you seek company. And you make friends. René Serrano sought company and made friends."

Con Peter and Pixie

My friend Stephanie

Jean Fracois, marie, zaza, jean Baptiste

"I was surrounded by young people from all over the world: Australia, South Africa, Eastern Europe, South America... I met a Dutch sculptor who took me to work with him. One day I thought it was enough, and I returned to Mexico."

With Joost

El Palmar, Tenerife 1997

RETURN TO MEXICO, RETURN TO THE WORLD

The goal was the same as so many family conversations: to settle down, study, stabilize. But at that point, and even more so thanks to a camera that his father had given him years ago, apparently, there was no turning back.

Morelia, México 1998

"I entered the Design program at UVAQ because there was a photography course. But the same thing happened again: I didn't like it. I lasted almost five months."

Las Ánimas Desert, Wixárika (Huichol). Land 1998

1998 Maruata, Michoacán.

1998 Michoacan Coast

Jorge Reyes, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. Day of the dead concert 1997

"René Serrano left for Europe again, this time to Belgium. Now, to study art.

"I arrived in Brussels and stayed for a year. But I discovered that I was more drawn to the school in Tournai, on the border with France. I went there. I began to get to know Europe, and especially its people."

Bruxelles

Mons 1997

Paris

With Léonce Demarez. At job in archeosite d'aubechies beloeil 1998

"At the place where I studied, they did ceramics, painting, photography, screen printing... We also interacted with those studying fashion design or interior architecture... The best part was talking to different people."

Interior

Académie des Beaux-Arts. Tournai, Belgium

Drawing class

Academie des Beaux-Arts. Tournai, Belgie

Beaux-Arts 2010

Beaux-Arts 2002

Charlotte et anne

Beaux-Arts 2001

Carnaval a Tournai

Académie des Beaux-Arts. Bruxelles, Belgium. with Carlos Limas 2001

"Belgium is a crossroads of cultures. Where I lived in Brussels, on Malibran Street, there was a Moroccan community, another type of Africa. There were little markets.

Belgium was one of the birthplaces of electronic music, of raves in the forests. He didn't like to dance, but he danced in Belgium. He attended classes and worked in whatever he could."

—Moving glasses, playing guitar in bars, fixing cables, walls. I was a model, a caretaker..."

2002 Tamines, Belgie. with Nicolas Carlier

"I spent many nights in ATMs, covering myself with newspapers. Or with some girl. I was also a squatter. Over time, I got an attic above an apartment, with a terrace overlooking the city."

Brugge, Belgium 1998

Camping Luxembourg 2001

Squat house

"It was 2002. From that attic, he says, he built a family. One that continues to this day.

'I have my second mother there. She was my girlfriend's mom... we broke up, but we stayed in touch. Later, in other times, I could always go to her house to shower and have a hot meal... I call her every month.'"

Roseline Courotis RIP

"But those calls would be later, much later, with a life already made from a terrace at the foot of La Loma de Santa María, because back then you had to live, and to be able to live, you had to be able to eat.

'In Tournai, I bought very cheap milk distributed by the government. And a kind of frozen pizza, which wasn't pizza, with a smear of ketchup and some powdered cheese, which wasn't cheese. Almost $15 Mexican pesos. And I drank tap water.'"

Student life...

"At other times, he saw leftover food in restaurants. He would rescue them."

"And then, again, I returned to Mexico."

* * *

"In 2003, the Museum of the City of Querétaro presented his set of works, 'Las Huellas.' He also began teaching at the University of Querétaro and simultaneously started a Master's in Arts Education.

'I didn't like it. I quit.'

Entrances and exits have been a constant. When he was little, René Serrano thought about becoming a seminarian.

'When you're a child and attend a Catholic school, there are people who try to recruit the young ones. They recruited me. But then they kicked me out. It wasn't the right fit.'

'What exactly did you do to get kicked out?'

'I hung out a lot with the girls from the kitchen... They kicked me out for getting to know the girls.'".

Convent group 1989-1990 Guadalajara Jal.
-Above third from right to left.

"After returning from Brussels to Mexico, there was another one of those constant exits. René found out that in Europe, there was a master's program for Arts-oriented Programming. For the third time, he set off, and this time, he lived in a little town called Móstoles, near Madrid. It was the era of the beginning of augmented reality, object programming, digital sensors. From time to time, he would return to Belgium to see his friends.

And then, another constant.

"At the end of that year, I went to live in Andalusia."

Universidad Europea de Madrid 2002

"Tablao" in Triana

with Daniel Palacio. Móstoles 2003

Madrid.

with Vito Acconci

Friend in Sevilla.2004

with Adrian Piper

Madrid

Sevilla

Paul Bowles used to say: the difference between a tourist and a traveler is that the latter never knows when he will return.

"I was just taking a stroll," says Serrano. "In the end, I stayed for several months."

MEXICO, THE FINAL STOP

After Móstoles, Andalusia, Tournai, Brussels, and thousands of stories that make a person who they are, he returned to Mexico once again. He created websites. He also taught in places like La Salle Univ or TEC de Monterrey Univ.

Teaching in Tec. de Monterrey Univ. 2010

Teaching in La Salle Univ. 2007

—I was dating a designer, and we were creating websites every week. During that time, I also began to experiment with electronic art.

That's when maturity arrived.

"I won a scholarship from young creators at Conaculta. I started to leave external projects and focus on mine, which is the image."

From his internet platform, he started selling his own works, exhibitions—like the latest one this year, just a few weeks ago, at the Cervantino de Guanajuato—travels. People. René Serrano is drawn to people.

—My portfolio is basically that: other people, being interested in what they do. I want to see and know the stories behind the stories that are at first sight... That enriches me. That's what I was doing until I got a call from Knotion. And here I am.

—What is the strangest anecdote from your travels?

Lacandona. Jungle 2018

Chihuahua 2014

Chiapas. 2015

—Oh, there are so many... I couldn't choose one. I especially remember those early mornings with a carton of milk and a fake pizza. Or when I slept in ATMs.

—And from the good experiences, which one stands out to you?

—A good experience is a combination of everything.

A cold wind descends from that hill to this terrace where we are, along with his plants and his records. Like that old terrace in Tournai, where the River Scheldt passes by, very close to where monks, warriors, and peasants fought against the bourgeoisie while the bishop ordered a procession.

—For example, when I returned to Tournai four years ago... One day I woke up early to walk near where I lived, in the central part of Tournai, with the cathedral and its centuries of history... I remembered when years ago, exactly in that same place, I used to play the guitar, or serve drinks, or go out with a girl, or come back from parties at 6 in the morning, never knowing how the day would end...

Train station Tournai, Be.

We talked: that returning years later, mature, adult, to the same place where years ago you played the guitar, served drinks, or came back with a girl from a party at 6 in the morning, is a symbol that to do it, you have to have resolved many things in your life before.

—What about all the people you never saw again? People with whom you shared a close, almost intimate life, and suddenly disappeared forever. How do you overcome that?

—You miss them. But social media helps. Some of those I met stabilized, others did not... It's always a pleasure to meet again.

2010 con Nicolas Carlier y Jeremy Croain

2002 Tournai, Be. Nicolas Carlier, Jeremy Croain.

—Don't you feel like going out again, like in those times?

—I was on the journey for six, seven years... And when you move like that, you need to carry your life in that sack...

Selfportrait. Oaxaca, MX 2015

Tournai, Belgium. 2014 Christian Rolet

The music we're listening to takes a different turn: now, Spanish rock is playing.

—Now, I'm comfortable with my life. I enjoy my outings, even if they don't last for years, and in fact, I need to do them. I just returned from the Lacandon Jungle for the second time, to take photos... I don't have family there, I just want to learn the stories..

Heritage. Lacandona Jungle 2018 Photo by René Serrano R.

In the meantime, recently, René Serrano has participated, either individually or collectively, in anthropological photography exhibitions such as "Faces of Mexico" at the National School of Anthropology and History; "The Intimate Landscape" at the Cervantino de Guanajuato and in Puebla; the Biennial of Photojournalism Héctor García at the Héctor García Gallery in Mexico City; and also as a filmmaker at the Morelia International Film Festival, the Toluca Film Festival, and in Brussels, Austin, and Belfast.

René gets up, reassures his barking dog, and sits back down.

— I wouldn't leave again for a long time. I'm good here: my house is eight minutes from the mountain, five from the shopping square, and the cinema.

Like that old terrace very close to where the bishop ordered a procession to appease the wrath of the gods who had sent a black plague epidemic that killed thousands, and that in the future would give rise to one of the most famous literary sagas in the world.

—Here I have my terrace, my plants, my records. Here I am happy.

And it would also give rise to René Serrano, a citizen of the world.