In Samuel Beckett's short story Enough we are introduced to a nameless character of few words, 'Hardly a million in all. Evenly spaced,'2 simple tastes and a keen interest in radishes. Likewise, in Beckett's 1949 play Waiting for Godot, we meet a simple vagabond, Tarragon, with
an unwavering obsession with his unbearably tight boots. Yet while Beckett's tales of radishes and boots seem to be nothing more than mundane narrative tricks, their significance goes far beyond their humble appearance. These details offer an intimate look at the man, his nature and his
destiny. As Vladimir comments about Estragon's boots, 'That is the essence of man, blaming his boots for his feet's troubles.'
Something similar can be said of the works in Esteban Peña's latest exhibition The Invention of Tradition (such is life in the tropics). If we were to ask the artist what he knows about the fate of man, he might simply reply, 'I could tell you more about tea sets, soap and bad paintings.'
