The Spanish sculptor Julio González (1876-1942) pioneered welded iron constructions and gave the medium an unprecedented expressiveness and range. Born in Barcelona, he learned his craft from his father, a goldsmith and sculptor.

He moved in 1900 to Paris, where his contact with the most innovative and powerful modern art led, as one would expect, to a vitalization of his own artistic conceptions. He arrived at a style of his own through his attempts to incorporate space and time into his work, and in so doing he changed the meaning of iron, endowing it with new constructive and expressive values. His work made a definitive impact on the development of contemporary sculpture.

Though his output was small, his influence on such master sculptors as David Smith ––a distant pupil–– is testimony to the eloquence of his art.

This ambitious publishing project (for which seven volumes are planned) focuses on the artist’s complete oeuvre and is the result of the initiative of Tomàs Llorens, former director of the Reina Sofía Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum both of which are in Madrid, and the IVAM in Valencia, which holds over 400 works by Julio González in its collection. Published in collaboration with the IVAM and the Azcona Foundation in Madrid.

Light, words, and the ephemeral—that shifting condition of random—are concepts present in some form in the entire oeuvre of Chema Alvargonzalez (1960-2009), an artist who divided the two decades of his career between Barcelona and Berlin. Whereas Bruce Nauman and Dan Flavin are Alvargonzalez’s direct sources in the way he configures the space through experimentation with lighting, Mallarmé serves as the basis of his linguistic approach to the practice of art.

Alvargonzalez often accords words the status of objects which—rather than locking in a meaning—enables him to achieve a semantic openness that only the great poets are capable of. In his vanitas pieces, another recurring theme, Alvargonzalez invites us to reflect on death; in his reference to Goethe’s last words (Licht, mehr Licht!) he draws our attention to the close relationship that he forges between nature and poetry.

Conventional studies of the Catalan Romanesque do not do justice to the true nature of this art. To remedy this, Diether Rudloff offers us not only an artistic appreciation of these works but also an absolutely new study of the values and the essence of the Romanesque in Catalonia. His vision tends towards a modern cognitive Goetheanism, nuanced by the ideas of Rudolf Steiner, who sees the various historical stages of the human consciousness as an expression of the metamorphosis of a constant spiritual awareness. Notable among the various types of work considered by the author are the monasteries, with their magnificent cloisters Sant Fruitós, Elna, Girona Cathedral, Ripoll, L'Estany and Santes Creus, as well as sculptures, codices and murals, such as those in Sant Climent de Taüll and Santa Maria d'Esterri d'Aneu, many of which are today found in museums in Barcelona and Vic.

German architect Ludwig Mies van der Roheis,without doubt,one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture.
The modern city,with its towers of glass and steel,can be at least in part attributed to the influence of architect Mies van der Rohe.Equally significant,if smaller in scale,is Mies’daring design of furniture,pieces that exhibit an unerring sense of proportion,as well as minimalist forms and exquisitely refined details. After an apprenticeship with furniture designer Bruno Paul in Berlin,he joined the office of architect Peter Behrens—where he met Le Corbusier and Walther Gropius.In the mid-1920’s,he began to design furniture,pieces that he conceived and created for particular interiors.
Mies van der Rohe’s furniture is known for fine craftsmanship,a mix of traditional luxurious fabrics (like leather) combined with modern chrome frames,and a distinct separation of the supporting structure and the supported surfaces.His modern furniture pieces using new industrial technologies,like the Barcelona chair (1929) and table and the Brno chair (1930),have become— acclaimed—popular classics.

Eight people out of work covering the widest possible social spectrum were photographed by Francesc Torres as he lived alongside them for one to two weeks. During this period, the artist documented their daily lives: some recycle scrap, others send out résumés, others are apparently not doing anything, as if this were now a given state for their lives, others seek a change in their professional life, others are helping those even less fortunate than them. All of them are surviving, alone or with their families. In addition to the visual documentation of their day-to-day experience, each of them has had a formal portrait taken.

After this first visual presentation of their lives and economic situation, filmmaker Mercedes Álvarez filmed each of them giving their opinions on the art they liked and whether it played a part, important or not, in their lives. They were asked to provide an object from home (a painting, a figure, a reproduction, etc.) with emotional significance for them. Finally, they each visited the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) alone and there chose a work from the permanent collection from among those fit to be transported and explained why it interested them. This foray into the museum was filmed by the director and went on to form part of the installation with the above images and personal belongings. The pieces selected from the MACBA collection for this process have also been borrowed to complete the project presentation at the Venice Biennale. As active subjects of the final work, the eight unemployed men and women received remuneration for their participation and dedication.

The second book in the “Body Text” Collection compiles seven essays revolving around the view, from the composition and the views of the spectator today, essays that analyse how both views construct diverse architectures of the ephemeral.

Constructing or viewing a choreographic work is a continuous attempt at creating spaces in time and shared moments. It is at this intermediate place between the view of the artist and that of the spectator, where other perspectives are opened to the eye, to thought and the experience, where the representation is transformed into an active relation between the presence, thought and action, where both the view of the artist and that of the spectator assume a collaborative relationship as authors and composers and open possibilities of other affections, other politics and other architectures of relation, where everything in existence is not exhausted in what is visible.

Ana Buitrago (Eastbourne, 1967) is an independent choreographer and dancer. She holds degrees in English Philology from the UCM and in Dance Performance from the SNDO (Theaterschool, Amsterdam). Since 1992, she creates her own choreographies and performances both alone and with other artists, while at the same time carrying out extensive teaching and research labours. From 1995 to 2001, she was a member of the group of choreographers UVI-La inesperada and co-director of Estudio 3 (Madrid). From 2004 to 2007, she was joint artistic manager of La Porta (independent dance, Barcelona), a structure with which she continues to collaborate occasionally.

Ejercicios de ocupación is the fifth title of Cuerpo de Letra collection, a series of studies focused on dance and contemporary thinking. In addition to recovering two texts by authors who have been key in the development of discourse on affects during the last decades (Brian Massumi and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick), the book collects a series of new texts specifically written for this volume from the theory and theartistic practice.

These texts are intended to relaunch the debate about affections in the present moment. Recover consciousness on how our bodies are occupied and are able to deal with others, allows us to think about ways of making and living that do not reproduce the tautological assimilation between reality and capitalism.

Since language is also affective, Ejercicios de ocupación sometimes take a poetic tone. This is a set of rhythmic, anomalous and vibrational texts.

Contributions by Mary Zournazi, Brian Massumi, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Bartolomé Ferrando, Ixiar Rozas, Paula Caspão, Bojana Kunst, Isabel de Naverán, Aimar Pérez Galí, Itziar Okariz, Idoia Zabaleta, Pedro G. Romero, Mireia Sallarès, Quim Pujol.
A collaboration with MERCAT DE LES FLORS. INSTITUT DEL TEATRE

>> Ixiar Rozas is a writer and playwright. Doctor of Fine Arts (UPV-EHU), she is professor at MU-Universidad de Mondragón,and is part of the team of AZALA (Lasierra, Alava).

>> Quim Pujol is a writer, curator and artist. His most recent works are "Trance colectivo" (2014) and "ASMR del futuro” (2015). He is professor at PEI (MACBA) and, with Cristina Alonso and Marc Olivé, curator of “Secció Irregular” at the Mercat de les Flors, Barcelona [CdL#5]

Also available:  

[CdL#1]   Agotar la Danza. Performance y política del movimiento
[CdL#2]   Arquitecturas de la mirada
[CdL#3]   Hacer historia. Reflexiones desde la práctica de la danza
[CdL#4]   A contracuento. La danza y las derivas del narrar

Collateral Event of the 14th International Architecture Exhibition - Biennale di Venezia (from 7 June to 23 November 2014) A project for the Venice Biennale curated by Josep Torrents i AlegreContribuitons by Guillem Carabí and Jordi Ribas The project represents a determination to recognize, appreciate and reformulate the specificity of local Catalan architecture in contrast with the global and franchised architecture that has been dominant in recent years. The starting point is Bofarull House (1913-1933), one of the key works of Josep Maria Jujol. In this Tarragonan architect's way of working we can identify an attitude that can be traced through many projects built in the last century and which is based on an intensive dialogue with pre-existing features (physical or otherwise) that enable a project including and blending new and existing elements to be developed, just as cuttings are grafted to a tree. Bofarull House allows us to explore an architectural attitude that is timeless. Accompanying it are La Llauna High School in Badalona (Carme Pinós and Enric Miralles), La Lira Theater Public Space in Ripoll (RCR Arquitectes and Joan Puigcorbé), and the Interpretation space for the megalithic tumulus/dolmen in Seró (Toni Gironès), projects removed in time but very close in many ways. All of them work with pre-existing constructions and are the result of layering concepts in which traditional materials are reinterpreted, and they are inserted in the territory, engaging in dialogue. The four buildings selected enable deeper comprehension of an attitude shared by other architectural examples. Thus a selection of twelve projects through which different ways of approaching different problems can be traced is being presented: landscape Restoration of the Vall d'en Joan landfill site (Enric Batlle, Joan Roig and Teresa Galí-Izard), Juan Apartment (Vora arquitectura), Apartments in the attic of La Pedrera (Francisco José Barba Corsini), Social housing block in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Josep Llinàs), Caldereria Petita House - restoration of a Row House (Calderon Folch Sarsanedas Arquitectes), Casal Balaguer Arts Center (Flores&Prats Arquitectes), Can Zariguey - Arenys de Munt Clinic (Miàs Arquitectes), Auditorium of the church of the convent of Sant Francesc (David Closes), three stations of Barcelona Metro Line 9  (Garcès – De Seta – Bonet Arquitectes), Can Framis Museum (BAAS Arquitectura), Project to revitalize the Al-Adhamyia District in Baghdad (AV62 Arquitectos) and the restoration of the Church of L'Hospitalet (José Antonio Martínez Lapeña & Elias Torres Tur Architects).             In the words of Torrents i Alegre, "the proposal is not a debate on taxidermic and conservative projects but examines an architectural approach that generates new layers and establishes new relationships where it intervenes. Hybridization is a concept that conveys the idea of a new, more vigorous organism emerging from two organisms combining their original components, and the architecture presented is the result of these vigorous combinations."