ARXIU_RASTRES I CICATRIUS [ARCHIVE_MARKS AND SCARS]
2014
Mixed technique
Frottage, graphite on onion skin paper
Various materials: wood, bolts, spikes, Fabriano paper 180 g. Graphite of different degrees of hardness and stickers 
 

ARXIU_SUBTERFUGIS [ARCHIVE_SUBTERFUGES]
2014
Mixed technique
Various materials: letterpress printing on labels, adhesive letters, chewing gum of different flavours in plastic bags on white laminated cardboard
 

ARXIU_ ARXIUS [ESTRUCTURES DEL CONEIXEMENT] [ARCHIVE_ARCHIVES [STRUCTURES OF KNOWLEDGE]]
2013-2014 (work in progress)
Arxiu de fotografies digitals (online) https://www.flickr.com/photos/117005895@N06/
 

#2 ESPORGATS [#2 WITHDRAWN]
2014
Sound intervention in the Sant Martí and Institut Infanta Isabel d'Aragó libraries.

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Presentation of the pupils

This is the full text presenting the exhibition by the pupils taking part in the residency project:

“Hello and good evening,

We are fourth-year secondary pupils from the Institut Infanta Isabel d'Aragó school and we are here to present the project that we made in the In Residence course with the artist Antònia del Río.

The title of our project is “Arxiu_” [Archive_] and it is formed by three works, which are:

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Rastres i cicatrius [Marks and Scars]

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Subterfugis [Subterfuges] and

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Arxius [estructures del coneixement] [Archives [Structures of Knowledge]]

We are also showing some drawings, which are not a work in themselves, but part of the process.

Throughout the year we worked on memory, at our school but also in the personal sphere.

Antònia told us that memory and knowledge are constructions made by society and in our sessions with her she encouraged us to become aware of this fact, trying to find out how this happens, how things are constructed and so on. We became researchers, looking for clues or traces.

The piece Rastres i cicatrius [Marks and Scars] talks about the marks or traces that pupils leave over time on desks, chairs and so on. We looked for these signs in our classrooms and also in other places where we worked during the year, as these were the closest at hand. We made a record of these marks using the frottage technique, which consists of rubbing a surface with graphite to reproduce its texture. In this way, we built up this archive of traces and scars. Because these scratches are like the "scars of war” left by the passing of time.

In the work Subterfugis [Subterfuges] what we did was to scratch off the chewing gum under our desks. We put them into little bags and distributed them and distributed them, imitating each of our classrooms.

When we had the idea of making this work, it sounded great fun, but when we had to start scratching we saw that it was really hard work. The truth is, we got a little tired of scraping off pieces of chewing gum!

The work Arxius [estructures del coneixement] [Archives [Structures of Knowledge]] is a archive of photographs that we gradually built up at several sessions over the year. It is a record of the structures or mechanisms that give form to knowledge and to the construction of history.

There are images of other archives, ordering systems and signage, etc.

The work is not finished; it is still a work in progress, and more images can still be added to it.

To create the archive, we went to the archives of the Antoni Tàpies Foundation one day to learn what a archive is, how it is organised, what it is used for and so on. Before we went, though, Antònia got us to imagine a space where all sorts of documents recording the history of the Foundation would be like, and to draw it.

The drawings that you see here are those we made before we visited the Antoni Tàpies Foundation.

Finally, we would like to mention that, before this exhibition, on St George's Day we made a sound intervention at the Sant Martí de Provençals library and at our school library. This is the work entitled Esporgats#2 [Withdrawn#2], which you can visit and take part in. We don't want to tell you any more about it, because the fun thing is to go there and find out for yourself. You will find all the information about what you need to do.

Thank you very much to everyone for coming.”

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The project was presented jointly with the one resulting from the residency at Institut Joan d'Àustria, in the lobby of the auditorium that the two schools share. The event was attended by pupils and teachers from both schools, as well as representatives from ICUB and Barcelona Education Consortium and people related to the world of culture.