Son[i]a #258
Domènec
In the late nineties, Domènec (b. Mataró, 1962) started to think about artists’ commitment to their social and political context. He realised then that architecture and urbanism are the arts that most directly affect people’s day-to-day lives. So, exploring the social potentialities of architecture at the same time as the devices of art, he began to map out an artistic path that has materialised in the form of sculptures, models, instalations, videos, photographs, workshops, and interventions in public space.
In his work, Domènec questions the grand emancipatory narratives of modernity, drawing attention to the dysfunctions of twentieth-century architectural utopias, while avoiding the pitfalls of apocalyptic, dystopian neoliberalism. His criticism is instead regenerative: a struggle played out in the symbolic field to reconstruct and occupy spaces of rebellion, from the perspective of the micro, the local, and the everyday.
In this podcast, Domènec talks about his working and documentation processes – what he calls “bastard research”, always straddling art, anthropology, sociology, history, journalism, and activism. He also reflects on the nature of the spaces of art as public spaces, and gives a detailed account of some of his most notable works, such as ‘Existenzminimum’ (2002), ‘Playground (Tatlin in Mexico)’ (2011), some of the pieces produced in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the recent ‘Public Audience’ (2018).
Deleted scenes
We dig up some unreleased fragments of the interview with Domènec that we were unable to include the first time around.
Deleted scenes
We dig up some unreleased fragments of the interview with Eyal Weizman that we were unable to include the first time around.
Eyal Weizman
Eyal Weizman talks about the basic principles of forensic architecture, its practical applications, and its links to the world of art and creation.
Florent Bex on Gordon Matta-Clark
Florent Bex talks about Gordon Matta-Clark's working process, the context in which they met and how the footage, photographs and drawings that he originally made as documentation have ended up becoming his body of work.