A deep dive into other worlds – exo museum Tortosa
In June 2025, we opened the exhibition “altres mons – other worlds” at the Museo del Ebre in Tortosa. The focus was on the works of Catalan artist Sonia Eva Domenech, particularly her series of circles. Drawing on symbolism and using abstract painting techniques, the artist creates space for the viewer and their thoughts and feelings. Domenech’s art is to make concrete proposals through color, structure, and geometry, without dictating or otherwise limiting the viewer’s imagination. Domenech developed and realized many of these works during her time at CASAdelDRAGON. She lived there with Juan Petry, a Spanish-German artist who has been opening his home to creatives from all over the world for almost 40 years. Consequently, Domenech invited Petry to participate in this exhibition with his current project #buenavistacervera. This artist invites people to join him in workshops to create benches from recycled pallet wood. Each bench offers the opportunity…
#BUENAVISTACERVERA – Banco de semillas
Catalan – English La concentració de proveïdors de llavors progressa a tot el món. Els lobbistes estan canviant les normes legals al seu favor. Tot passa en públic, embolicat en fantasies com la protecció de la salut, la protecció dels clients i la conservació de les espècies. Deixant de banda les matemàtiques, la ciència només pot demostrar allò que és fals i s’hauria de descartar com una teoria. Tot i això, la ciència continua permetent-se que es prostitueixi. Seguiu els diners. Encara no és il·legal fer circular llavors amb finalitats ornamentals gratuïtament. Els ocells no fan res més. El vent, fins i tot manipulat, ajuda. La contaminació durant el transport d’aliments porta llavors a llocs on ni tan sols s’havia pensat. El que queda és l’exploració artística d’un fenomen. Com a humans, gaudim del plaer. Pel que recordem, sabem que això també té alguna cosa a veure amb les plantes.…
The Oracle of Delphi – future on request
How to use it? How to mount it? When setting up the bench, make sure that the labyrinth is leveled. This is what the calibration is for. The chain must hang exactly in the middle of the crosshairs. The feet can be finely adjusted using a wrench. To do this, use the outer screws first. The screws on the middle feet are only used to distribute the load and should be adjusted after adjustment so that they just touch the floor. If the floor is sensitive, the bench should always be placed on cardboard discs or beer mats. If the bench has to be moved for some reason, it must be finely adjusted before it is used again. The story behind… #buenavistacervera is a social art project. People are invited to workshops to build benches and other furniture for public spaces together. The objects invite social interaction. This makes the…
GAME B – beyond the matrix
GameA is the description for the current world and its civilization. GameB names the other, the better, the evolutionary different. The classic game as a civilization companion of mankind then probably belongs to GameA. It is characterized by the setting of the playing field, game objective, rules of the game and the course of the game.This GameB goes beyond that. There are no limits to the number of players, the playing fields, the moves, the rules of the game or the possible course of the game. If you discover one of the #buenavistacervera benches in a public space or museum or in an exhibition hall, maybe you will find a bench which invites you to play. The Game B – benches are dedicated to the social interaction of playing games. In a first trial you might use a given rule-set but you should go beyond and create your own rules.…
ACT
It is essential to give back to the community that supports you. Each of my artworks is embedded in social ties, aiming to create a meaningful impact on those around me. There is no need for a commission when the intention is genuine. The first and most valuable return on investment is the gratitude that comes from witnessing the process of discovery. As Ai Weiwei puts it, “My favorite word? It’s act.” Action is fundamental to creation. Social sculpture demands a strong concept, thoughtful planning, and powerful execution. Power controls through fear, and fear is politics. By offering pleasure, joy, and knowledge, artists disrupt established power, placing themselves at the heart of politics. Contemporary art’s ongoing task is to challenge existing conditions, and resistance—whether through headwinds, exclusion, or rejection—signals that this engagement is meaningful. I echo Tania Bruguera’s words: “Feeling good is not enough: Create a political moment.” Social sculpture…
The act of St. Laurence
Even in capitalist systems, there are inalienable rights for the arts. One of these rights is the right to authorship. Who created the work, who painted or copied it, and if so, did they respect this inalienable right and properly identify the source. In photography, proof of authorship used to be possession of film, negative or slide. Today it is often the digital data set, outcropped in the highest resolution. When a photographer refers to his career and experience, he is actually referring to his archive. That is his greatest treasure, that is the foundation of his authorship. In the digital age – which will certainly also pass – analogue film is already considered old-fashioned and antiquated. Nevertheless, it still stores far more pixels per inch than modern digital cameras. The advantage lies in its easy availability and handling, not in its quality. The idea of keeping the analogue for…
U-HAFT QUEDLINGBURG – Backstage
This is the story behind the story behind a series for the international social art project ARTSURPRISE.EU. It is the story of a prison, the story of two men (both hero’s for me), working voluntarily as guides for this place, the story of the making-of of the series and the story of rejecting an offer to use contemporary art to rise more attention for this location and the people behind. I dedicate this series to my father. The 6th of October 2024 was his birthday (88 years). And what connects him to this series is his never ending love for people. Thank you for that. At all times people have done evil to other people. Many people were imprisoned innocently. So-called republic refugees were also imprisoned in the prison in Quedlinburg. These were people who simply wanted to leave the country (back then the German Democratic Republic GDR). In the…
Exploring the boundaries of a work of art
In times of linguistic confusion, accompanied by censorship and deliberate misinformation, in times when free speech and free expression are losing importance, it may seem like an undertaking to address the question of where the boundaries of a work of art lie today. But this is only an apparent contradiction. Especially in these times, artistic expression is a means of communication with great potential. One hundred years ago, the artists of DADA manifested their messages in collages and drawings, used the niche of art to express criticism that no longer wanted to be heard on the streets and squares, used the postal service to evade censorship. While digital AI may personalize this text for the interested reader, the works sent out en masse will find their way into the collective memory. But it requires careful decoding. In the post-factual era, digital appropriation helps both sides. While some use ever more…
buenavistacervera – social interaction in public spaces – enjoy the life
Social art comes on the way. The work belongs to a group of works that is oriented towards social interaction in public spaces called #buenavistacervera. From autumn 2024, many of these sculptures will be installed in public spaces in Europe. The sculpture is made out of pallet wood and therefore – in respect to nature – recycled. These sculptures will be placed in public spaces to invite random people passing by to take a seat, to relax and to enjoy a nice view. Each sculpture contains an invitation to “inter-act”. The work is a bench to sit on and at the same time a place where messages can be exchanged. Users are invited to use the bank for communication. You can leave letters and cards to friends and loved ones. You can motivate others to visit this bank (geo-tagging), search for messages or place additional messages yourself. The sculpture is…
White Dragon
In May 2024, young people and adults from Moldova, Romania, Spain and visitors from other European countries created a white dragon in Cervera del Maestre.The dragon can be found on a concrete wall in a playground in the middle of the village near the agricultural cooperative.Everyone is invited to take a selfie with the dragon and post it on social media until July 7th, 2024. A prize is offered in collaboration with the mayor’s office of Cervera del Maestre. Whoever gets the most likes and shares for their selfie wins. Details here (ESP | ENG – pdf). The story of the youth group’s visit and the story behind the White Dragon can be read here.