War and (Art) Piece
15/01/2011
A free art route links two old Barcelona neighbourhoods—la Ribera and Barceloneta—using sculpture and installations to commemorate their historical association, forged in 1714 from Catalonia’s defeat in the War of the Spanish Succession.
After his victory over the Catalans, British and other allies, Philip V of Spain ordered the neighbourhood of la Ribera to be partially razed to make way for construction of the Ciutadella fortress, an edifice designed to prevent further civil insurrection. It took a couple of years before ousted former residents were assigned a plot of land on Barceloneta sand spit. This fishing village had been haphazardly growing since the Renaissance until, in 1753, military engineer Joris Prosper van Verboom was commissioned to provide a rational new street plan. Housing priority was given to residents engaged in activities connected to the sea.
Over two hundred years later, in the lead-up to the 1992 Barcelona summer Olympics, the area of la Ribera, Poble Nou and Barceloneta was redesigned to open up the shoreline to the city and revamp Barcelona’s neglected port and beaches. The permanent exhibition Configuracions urbanes [Urban Configurations] consisting of 8 works by 2 Spanish and 6 foreign artists, inaugurated just days before the Games, aimed to link both neighbourhoods in an art route.
The guiding criteria for Urban Configurations sought to combine foreign and Spanish artists, works that would epitomise creative tension, art that was accessible to its public, in harmony with its physical and human environment and engaged in a dialogue with the space in which it was installed.
In the order of a stroll from carrer Comerç down to the beach, these works are:
Deuce Coop, James Turrell. This US artist’s neon installation in an 18th-century building—now a civic centre—revitalises and accentuates the old architecture. It contains an iconic Turell reference in the oculus and use of light. Its lustrous tranquillity encourages the viewer to take ample time to appreciate the installation fully at a meditative pace. This work, installed in the Civic Centre, is only available during opening times and activated by a sensor that turns it on after dusk: around 6 pm in winter and 9 pm in summer.
Deuce Coop, James Turrell, 1992. Centre Civic Convent de Sant Agustí, c. Comerç, 23, la Ribera. Opening hours (after dusk): Mon to Fri, until 10 pm; Saturdays, until 9 pm.
Born, Jaume Plensa. Consisting of several scattered iron forms—a large coffer and spheres evocative of cannonballs—this work focuses attention on the urban landscape of the tree-lined avenue, evoking the form of a ship. Yet it also references the Born’s history as a Medieval jousting yard, a key scenario in the 1714 siege of Barcelona and site of the city’s main wholesale market. The defunct market structure—an excellent example of late 19th-century ironwork—can be seen at the end of this avenue.
Born, Jaume Plensa, 1992. Passeig del Born/volta d’en Dusai, Born.
Sense títol (quatre falques) [Untitled (Four Wedges)], Ulrich Rückriem. This Düsseldorf artist, trained as a stone mason, installed four massive pieces of granite in the Pla del Palau, distributed in two pairs, which face the traffic like spectators. While much of his work conjures dramatic geological splendour, here the location is poor, causing many people to pass them by unseeing, as oblivious as to any other piece of urban furniture.
Sense títol (quatre falques) [Untitled (Four Wedges)], Ulrich Rückriem, 1992. Pla de Palau.
Rosa dels vents [Compass Rose], Lothar Baumgarten. This is a hard work to envisage as it extends over several hundred square metres of the Moll de la Barceloneta. Large bronze letters embedded in the pavement spell out in Catalan the names of the prevailing winds, indicating their direction. Though originally conceived to be placed closer geographically, it was deemed by the area’s architectural planners to have more impact in its present configuration. It is a further reference to the city’s strong maritime culture.
Rosa dels vents [Compass Rose], Lothar Baumgarten, 1992. Plaça Pau Vila, Moll de la Barceloneta.
Crescendo appare [Growing in Appearance], Mario Merz. For this neon installation embedded in the pavement, the internationally renowned Italian artist chose the Fibonacci sequence, a ratio that occurs naturally in objects such as the nautilus shell. Although discovered by several Indian mathematicians as early as 200 BCE or 700 CE, it received its name from an Italian, who defined the equation (Fn = Fn-1 + Fn-2) for the West in 1202. In short, starting from 0 and 1, you add the two previous numbers to find the next, producing the sequence: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55…
Crescendo appare [Growing in Appearance], Mario Merz, plaça Pau Vila, Moll de la Barceloneta.
Balança romana [Roman Scales], Jannis Kounellis. Originally installed on the corner of Barceloneta’s Baluard and Almirall Cervera streets, this sculpture now lives outside the Civic Centre where carrer Miquel Boera meets Andrea Dòria. Like Jaume Plensa, the Greek-born Kounellis is paying homage to the port’s trading history. The work consists of a vertical conveyor, or scales, containing sacks of coffee beans, rising to the height of the seven-storey building against which it is installed. Kounellis characteristically sites his sculptures in the historic, often industrial, locations which they reference.
Balança romana [Roman Scales], Jannis Kounellis, 1993. Carrers Miquel Boera/ Andrea Dòria, Barceloneta.
L’Estel ferit [The Wounded Star], also known as Homenatge a la Barceloneta [Homage to Barceloneta], Rebecca Horn. Four, large iron boxes evoke an abandoned lighthouse more than ten metres high, recalling aspects of Barceloneta’s history such as its maritime past and the ramshackle beachfront restaurants which were popular eating places as late as 1990. (+ info)
L’Estel ferit [The Wounded Star], Rebecca Horn, 1992. Passeig Marítim, Barceloneta.
Una habitació on sempre plou [A Room Where It Is Always Raining], Juan Muñoz. Five caged figures growing from huge orbs gaze between the bars of their prison at the city or seascape. It is said the work was meant to include an installation from which water would continually rain down into the cage. (+ info)
Una habitació on sempre plou [A Room Where It Is Always Raining], Juan Muñoz, 1992. Plaça del Mar, Barceloneta.
Configuracions urbanes [Urban Configurations], 1992. La Ribera and La Barceloneta neighbourhoods.
