Domènec:
Some news
from nowhere

This lecture explores the disconnect between utopian ideals and social reality, focusing on the role of concentration camps as a defining architectural type of the 20th century and examining the implications of modern architecture in this context.
Date: 10.10.2024, 19:00
Lecture
Place: Barcelona, Carrer de Sant Pere Mes Alt, 39
'Nowhere', in the particular rhetoric of modernity, is the space of utopia (from the Greek oú, 'no', and topos, 'place'; literally 'no place'), always beyond the horizon and in a perpetual, unrealizable future.
About the Lecture
Domènec's research and critical essay is born from the awareness of the failure of the modern movement. His work fundamentally deals with issues such as the distance between utopia and social reality.

In the talk at DOM Art residencie we will discuss these questions through the presentation of some previous projects and the project "A century of European architecture" for Manifesta 15.


A product of modernity, the concentration camp is a fairly recent invention, emerging in the late 19th century. Throughout the 20th century, a terrific array of European political entities interned many diverse groups in concentration camps. The proliferation of such camps is inextricably linked with the organising principles of the nation-state, which have a tendency to produce a segment of the population that does not “fit”.
Time and again in societies where these principles are strictly followed, those deemed “other” have been forcibly separated from the “healthy” social body. With drawings, photographs, plans, models, sculptures and in-situ interventions,
"A Century of European Architecture" interrogates the architectural dispositive of concentration spaces in Europe. For Manifesta 15, Domènec has created an adapted version of the project that reflects upon the panoptic design of the Mataró Prison, acknowledging that the built environment is never neutral and that this venue’s original function must not be forgotten.
The Domènec’s "A Century of European Architecture" departs from the question:
Was the concentration camp the defining architectural type of the 20th century?

Domènec

Visual artist Domènec creates sculptural and photographic works, installations and public space interventions, rooted in conceptual reflections. His work centres on architecture as a complex construct of modern tradition.
Domènec has participated in numerous in situ projects and international public art initiatives in countries such as Ireland, Mexico, Belgium, France, Italy, the USA, Brazil, Argentina, Finland, Slovenia, Japan, India, the Philippines, Israel and Palestine. In 2018, MACBA (Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona) hosted a major solo exhibition, showcasing a retrospective of his work from the late 1990s to the present.
Additionally, he was a co-editor of the art magazine Roulotte.
Ticket price:

10 euros - early bird
12 euros - at the entrance

Price includes a glass of wine