Microcòsmics
Comisiariada per Joan Fontcuberta
METRONOM Fundació Rafael Tous d’Art Contemporani

Metrònom ha volgut fer un experiment: donar a una sèrie de creadors d’~ambits molt diferents l’oportunitat de reaccionar espontàniament a la percepció d’objectes que ha elegit a través d’un microscopi electrònic. En aquest grup selecionat per Joan Fontcuberta hi ha músics, pintors arquitectes, cineastes, fotògrafs, poetes, escultors…Els participants són Barbara Held, Ivan Bercedo i Jorge Mestre, Carles Hac Mor i Ester Xargay, Isaki Lacuesta, Sylvie Bussières, Perejaume i el mateix Joan Fontcuberta. Davant d’aquest repte, cada un d’ells ha donat una resposta vinculada a preocupacions plàstiques i conceptuals que els són pròpies. “Microcòsmics” proposa, doncs, el resultat d’aquesta iniciativa, que té la voluntat d’arreplegar la resposta directa de la mirada de l’artista sobre la mirada de la ciència.

Metronom ha querido hacer un experimento: dar a una serie de creadores de ámbitos muy diferentes la oportunidad de reaccionar espontáneamente a la percepción de objetos de su elección a través de un microscopio electrónico. En este grupo seleccionado por Joan Fontcuberta hay músicos, pintores, arquitectos, cineastas, fotógrafos, poetas, escultores…Los participates son Barbara Held, Ivan Bercedo y Jorge Mestre, Carles Hac Mor y Ester Xargay, Isaki Lacuesta, Sylvie Bussieres, Perejaume y el mismo Joan Fontcuberta. Ante este reto, cada uno de ellos ha dado una respuesta vinculada a preocupaciones plásticas y conceptuales que les son propias. “Microcosmics” propone pues el resultado de esta iniciativa, que tiene una voluntad de recoger la respuesta directa de la mirada del artista sobre la mirada de la ciencia.

The Innermost Nature of Things, Barbara Held

Sound installation, with Ferran Conangla and Adolf Alcañiz, Metronom Lab
I was very moved when I first saw these images, the photographic traces made
by the diffusion or scattering of X-rays passing through a painstakingly
crystallized protein, part of the work of researcher Alicia Guasch Mitjans, or the
Institut de Biologia Molecular in Barcelona. Each point and its intensity represents
a reflection of X-rays by the electorns in the crystal, and it is a way of “seeing”
where the electrons are. This sphere of reflected points can then be represented
by a series of virtual 3-D computer programs in order to permit the study of the
molecular structure of the protein, in this case, belonging to a bacteria. I have
taken the process one step further, and again using the computer, have made a
representation in sound of the same structure that is then transmitted into
audible space by means of the “alchemy” of transducers/loudspeakers.
I’m interested in the idea of representation in the Medieval sense, in which the
likeness of any thing and a representation of it must imitate the idea of the thing and not its substance. According to ancient scientific and philosophic thought,
the material of the Universe is structured according to the harmony of musical
ratios, and so the art of music closely reflects the innermost nature of things.
Although we are working with digital technology, this series of representations is
like a mystic’s story, coming around by layers to an idea of order and glistening
harmonious spheres, microcosmos in macrocosmos, the Universal in contrast to
global terror, war and brutality.