Ant Beltrán

  1. #VALUE! (2025)
  2. Omnicompressant (2025)
  3. OC Philology (2025)
  4. A Moss and Metal Duet (2025)
  5. Deconstructing Mexico City’s Monumento a la Independencia (2023) 
  6. Film Restoration (2023-24)
  7. Alexandre Dumas’s Afro: Blackness Caricatured, Erased, and Back Again (2023)







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P003 → Omnicompressant Philological Deconstruction





Stills from Omnicompressant Nodal Constallation. Coded by Olly Evans. Concept and Direction by Ant Beltrán.


Omnicompressant

(om-nee-kom-PRESS- uhnt)




[Origin]
Early 21st century; coined by curator Ant Beltrán for the 2025 art exhibition Omnicompressant: A 2D Manifesto.
 
[Etymology]
Latin omni- (”all”) + compressant (”a flattening agent”), with influence from French pressant (”pressing, urgent”).

noun
The all-encompassing cyclical nature of two-dimensionality as not only a flattening force, but a foundational one for the rendering of new dimensions, new realities.

“The exhibition explores the Omnicompressant by tracing the creative cycle: from the 2D plane into new dimensions, and from 3D forms, like sculptures, maquettes, or lived experiences, back into the compressed format of a 2D final piece.”  

adjective
Having the qualities of the Omnicompressant; characterized by the dual power to flatten or simplify and to serve as a generative originating point.

“The digital screen has an omnicompressant effect on how we perceive the world.”
          

Philological Deconstruction

by Ant Beltrán and Astrid Aerts

Omni:
Com (Latin):
Pre:

Sant/sans (Fr.):
Present:
Omnipresent:
Compressant: 
Pressant (Fr.):
Compresent:
All.
With.
Comes before. Starting point. Generation of ideas. Foundational. Historical.
Without.
Presence. Existence. The now.
Existing everywhere.
A flattening force.
pressing, important, urgent. A pressing invitation.
To exist together.