Lo que fue no es pero es

26th to 28th September 2024
CUARTO
Rambla de la Marina 456, floor 4
08907, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona)

Lo que fue no es pero es (What was is not but is) questions the impact that the passing of time and human influence have had on the fall of contemporary structures. It takes inspiration from the life cycle of Penicillium, a mold that is born as a consequence of a product’s degradation, to broaden the view to the current social situation.
        Penicillium has been used since the 20th Century to produce penicillin, a drug that marked the start of the golden age of antibiotics due to its efficacy in curing infections during World War II. Today, penicillin is practically obsolete. Primarily due to its excessive use, bacteria are creating resistance to penicillin. As a result, scientists are investigating new formulas to develop alternative medicines.
        The 21st Century confronts us with a process of comprehensive change that arises from the lack of efficacy of solutions that, just like penicillin, were once revolutionary. The structures that were established in the past now seem inefficient, outdated, corrupt, and unsustainable. But are we capable of improving them? Or are we reaching a point of degradation of no return? Where is the end of a concept and where are there still options to adapt?
        Working across sculpture, sound, installation and painting, we invite artists Linus Bonduelle, Gonzalo Guzmán and Bruno Ollé to show their work in a dialogue about the opportunities for change in our current systems. They propose new evolutionary interpretations of constructions and ideas whose progress has been modified by society’s often unconscious influence.
        Alongside them, microbiologist Dr. Julia Sánchez, who has actively collaborated throughout the research process, participates with a representation of the four existing generations of penicillin to show their effectiveness, or non-effectiveness, in the destruction of organisms.
        Lo que fue no es pero es presents different facets of a contemporary reality where there is a general call for change.

© Ariadna Puigdomenech