Joyful Comunication Demo
2002

-2002. Pis Compartit. Private flat in carrer Ferran,m Barcelona. (Collective exhibition). A project by 22a

Site-specific installation. 450 x 450 x 450 cm
Replacement of four windowpanes accessing an interior courtyard with four fluorescent yellow Plexiglas panes inlaid with four plastic glasses connected with nylon thread stretched between them. Installation in a flat in carrer Ferran, Barcelona.

During one month, the collective 22a shared a flat in central Barcelona with its occupants, three young women, who saw their flat become the venue for an exhibition of various proposals reflecting upon the line separating art and daily life. The piece occupied the only uninhabitable space in the flat: the inside courtyard which communicated between the rooms and brought sunlight inside. Traditionally, inside courtyards have been used in order to share domestic life: casual conversations between neighbors, stealthy looks into the private spaces of the others, or gossiping about the other occumentsin the building. The installation consisted in replacing a windowpane from each of the balcony doors at the sides of the court, by a yellow Plexiglas pane inlaid with a plastic glass. A nylon thread was stretched between each pair of plastic glasses, the result being a simple communication artifact for a structurally complex space.

Over the duration of the exhibition, the conventional function of the court was altered so that the occupants and visitors could experience the unique architectural and relational values of this communicative space; besides, the bright yellow Plexiglas was in tune with the trendy, casual furniture style of the flat.