#MONU#mentalismes [#MONU#mentalisms]

Installation
Collages on paper, strips of black foil and film of the performance

#MONU#mentalismes comprises three elements that, together, form an installation. These elements are: firstly, the mosaic of collages made from photographs of the sculptures studied; secondly, the black foil pieces that reflect the reliefs and volumes of the same sculptures; and, finally, a projection of the film made of the pupils performing the action. Through work on a selection of statues installed in the public space near Institut Serrat i Bonastre secondary school (Gràcia), #MONU#mentalismes links the transitory nature of the young people to the permanence of sculptural presences that were initially opaque in the eyes of the pupils. In short, the discovery and shared discussion about these sculptures in the nearby environment was an exercise in study and reappropriation with a view to the configuration of new meanings.

Presentation
The presentation took place in the Orange Tree Courtyard at the Frederic Marès Museum at 7.30 pm on June 30. There, the pupils, with Toni Giró, described the work process and explained the pieces presented. The director of the Frederic Marès Museum closed the presentation.The event was attended by pupils, families and teachers from the school, as well as representatives from Barcelona Education Consortium and Barcelona City Council’s Institute of Culture. Various members of the Council for Culture also attended. Below is the text of the presentation made by the pupils:

Hello and welcome!

We are pupils in the fourth year of ESO compulsory secondary education at Institut Serrat i Bonastre school and we form part of the Artists In Residence project with Toni Giró. When we met Toni, he introduced three words that have accompanied us and from which we have built up a meaning over the course of the academic year: Archaeology (adding small fragments to build a whole); strange (we learned that this is subjective, that we should not be afraid of it and that we can adopt it and transform it into something everyday or “normal”); and the idea of taking up a position with regard to other things around us. Over the year, through exploration and experimentation, we worked with these three words and, meanwhile, also generated new questions and did small things, until we finally created this great project, made from fragments in which there is a small part of each one of us. We could say that the project is divided into two parts: firstly, the whole part of the collage; and, secondly, the fragments of sculptures and the video. As regards the collage, we started from many photographs of the various sculptures that we had chosen, taken from different points of view and, guided by our instinct, we began to cut and paste. Once we had made a collage, Toni told us to do just the opposite, and as we moved further from our comfort zone, we began to see everything that we could create. We also spent several days visiting the sculptures that we had decided to work on. At one last session, we visited the different sculptures and, using black foil, created a second skin that allowed us to transport small fragments from the sculptures wherever we wanted. We went all around neighbourhood carrying these fragments. Although we did not intend this, the action led many members of the public to ask us questions when they saw us on the street, and that is why we decided to make this video that we share with you today.

We hope you like our project. Thank you very much for coming and for your kind attention.