The door in the face
2002
– 2002. La porta als nassos. Sala Nil. Metrònom. Barcelona. (One-person exhibition)
– 2003. Zona Espera. Fundació Espais d’Art Contemporani. Girona. (One-person exhibition)
– 2004. Transnational Breakfast Club. Stroud. U.K. (Video Festival)
Iron structure, revolving-door of four wooden panels (163 x 163 x 230 cm.), 4 transparent photographs mounted on Plexiglas and spot light.
Video projection on back wall of space with audio system. . DVD edited in loop. Total playing time of loop: 27’08’’
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An iron structure supporting a transparent wall divides the room in two halves. The structure supports a revolving door which allows access from one half to the other. The glass in the doors has been substituted for transparent photographic images depicting immigrants lined up waiting in front of government buildings. The door is illuminated by a spotlight which projects the images onto the floor and walls. On the front facing wall of the space, behind the door, a video is projected created from sequences filmed of revolving doors throughout the city of Barcelona, imitating the images taken with security surveillance cameras; here it can be seen how anonymous use these elements in a variety of buildings in the city.
This installation reflects upon both the public and private sector through use of a single element (the revolving-door) used as a metaphor of control and social selection as practiced throughout globalized societies. Revolving-doors, contrary to domestic ones, do not permit access to any private room. They are always half opened and half closed. They hide no surprise; rather, they offer a glimpse of officialdom and the routine of bureaucracy. Powerfully visible despite their transparency, the end result is pretentious and authoritarian – they select, separate and exercise the logic of control upon people.