‘May you live in interesting times’. With this statement as a trigger point, La Biennale welcomes the visitor with a powerful (and poetic) warning. The times we are living are indeed interesting, but they may be dangerous, violent and lived as a race against the clock. This year’s exhibition, curated by Ralph Rugoff, explores the role of art in the fascintating intersection of AI, technology and humanity.
Author: When Audrey Met Darcy
Velvety darkness: deep into horrorland
Classic terror materializes human fears in archetypes, giving them a structured and endowed form. The wicked spirit, the monster, the eccentric scientist. Through these characters between mythology and folk culture, we can fight or rationalize the strongest human fear: the unknown. These monstrous creatures are a perfect mirror of our behaviour; they have evolved with knowledge: the more we know, the less we fear.
Estampado animal: de la sofisticación exótica al punk
Las pieles de animales empezaron a usarse para cubrirse y calentarse, desde la lana de oveja, el cuero, las pieles de foca o las pieles de grandes felinos. En algunas sociedades, el uso como vestimenta de ciertos animales está profundamente enraizado culturalmente con sus costumbres, ritos y símbolos de estatus. Por ejemplo, para los guerreros zulúes y algunas tribus sudafricanas, la piel de leopardo simboliza el poder y la fuerza. Además, funciona como símbolo jerárquico dentro de su esquema político y social.
Fahrenheit – curated bags
Nos encontramos una tarde de finales de primavera (justo antes del Primavera Sound, que marca el inicio de los festejos estivales) en su estudio. Un rincón donde crear y gestionar Fahrenheit, lugar que comparten con otros creadores como Lantoki, en pleno corazón del Raval barcelonés. Rodeada de bolsos, mochilas y muestrarios de cuero, Andrea me recibe con una sonrisa y un vaso de agua. Ha hecho los deberes y ha respondido la mayoría de las preguntas que le mandamos, aunque la idea es charlar: en directo siempre sale mejor. Sin grabadora ni vídeo, la idea de grabarlo y hacer algo más interactivo me parece fenomenal, así que tendremos que ser un poco más tecnológicos la próxima vez, ya que hoy solo tiraremos de libreta y bolígrafo.
Walden-7: an utopian project
In the outskirts of Barcelona, we find the iconic Walden-7 created by Ricardo Bofill’s architecture studio in the 1970s. The project was conceived as an utopian attempt to build a communal building, a city inspired by the kasbahs in Morocco and bee hives. It was designed by a multidisciplinar group of professionals ranging from engineers and architects, to psychologists and philosophers. They tried to come up with the perfect community, a building adapted to its environment and its people, a building that could strengthen the bonds between neighbors.
A lion in the way
The Lion embodies the absolute King, an infinite power rooted in history and time. Although being a nocturnal creature, it has often been related with the Sun, and has become a symbol in many cultures.
So shake your wild manes and roar through this WAMD-curated selection, opened by the Lion of St. Mark.
Eye of the tiger
The Tiger is a beautiful and fierce feline, strong-willed and independent. Wild at times and playful at others, tigers are sacred, an inspiration and a fantasy.
For all the tiger lovers out there, we start an eye-candy journey through art and illustration with tigers as main characters. All styles and techniques are used to portray them: there is poetry in their stripes!
Casa Vicens de Gaudí – Entre el margalló i la zinia
La Casa Vicens és la primera obra arquitectònica d’Antoni Gaudí, construïda entre 1883 i 1888, a l’encara residencial vil·la de Gràcia. El projecte li va ser encomanat com a una segona residència estival per la familia del corredor de borsa Manuel Vicens i Montaner.
-Casa Vicens is the first architectural work of Antoni Gaudí, built between 1883 and 1888, in the back then residential village of Gràcia. The project was entrusted to him as a summer residence for the family of the stock broker Manuel Vicens i Montaner.-
Encounters
In that isolated world, eons away from what we once called society, I dream of you. I encounter you in my lysergic hallucinations glowing in pink and golden: this galaxy plays with our fears and desires, and pulls the trigger that ignites our souls. Despite my willingness to escape, the idea of losing what remains of you, this tailor-made hologram that keeps me on the verge of madness, just sickens me. I might get loose of these chains, or I might keep on following your steps inside the dark maze of my mind.
Climbing the staircase – Open House
A staircase is a journey, where the steps lead you through the way. 1st. Step: The k. k Österreichische Länderbank: It was planned as a bank building which should project solid seriousness and reliance. Otto Wagner was in charge of the design and managed wonderfully to join functionality and his own aesthetics, marking the beginning of 20th century Viennese architecture.