Niu a la Llanterna de L’Auditori
Barcelona, Spain
22 and 23 April 2023
15 x 15 x 18 m
Inside this artwork remains suspended the Ordinance on measures to promote and guarantee citizen coexistence in the public space of Barcelona, known as Ordenança del Civisme de 2005, the most restrictive in Spain, in which is not allowed to paint; not allowed to sing; not allowed to play; not allowed to drink; not allowed to beg; not allowed to sell; not allowed to undress; not allowed to shower; not allowed to lie down; not allowed to sleep. Here it is forbidden to forbid, respect the others freedom and the integrity of the place.
This text was displayed on an information panel with the technical sheet of the work. A work that suspended the law and allowed the public, within the work, to act and take care of the place in their own way. NIU was presented in the context of the Model, Festival d’Arquitectures de Barcelona 2023.
A yellow inflatable that completely occupies the patio of the L’Auditori building in Barcelona, designed by Rafael Moneo, 1999. A patio made up of four glass walls, which light up like a lamp, supported by the roof of the building three meters above the ground. A space that directs the currents that cross the building, leading them upwards like a column of air. Some air currents that, through a hole in the base and the openings for the accesses, we take advantage of to inflate the balloon that we built for that place. A balloon that use the surrounding conditions and inflates with those air currents, without a fan.
The installation resulting from the appropriation of that space was precious. Between the shadows of the building appeared a bright, an intense yellow point of light. Like a lamp, alive, that beats to the rhythm of the air moved by temperature. At dawn calm, sweet and cozy. As the day went by, and the temperature increased, it gained strength, movement, power, intensity, it wanted to fly away. The heartbeat became whiplash and the tension increased. The hot air, above, pushed the balloon towards the sky that the ballasts did not allow it to reach. After 6pm, the tension was diminishing and at 8pm, when the lights of the Llanterna came on, the balloon settled down again, exhausted.
Unfortunately we could not follow the whole cycle again because, the following noon, the force of the air that had lifted it took it away.
What a beautiful memory this work leaves us, which was intended to be a refuge for meeting and freedom and, perhaps, ended up being a desperate cry for it.
In any case, we could not have done this work without the generous collaboration and complicity of the L’Auditori team who, from the beginning, believed and supported the proposal unconditionally. To all of them, thank you very much!
