Cultural Ecologies in Malasaña

Between 2009 and 2012, the space LAPIEZA (c/ Palma 15) became a central node in the emerging cultural ecologies of Madrid’s Malasaña neighbourhood, operating not as a traditional gallery but as an open device for socioplastic experimentation. These years marked a critical phase in which artistic practice was mobilised not to produce objects, but to sustain interactive processes rooted in urban life, in line with what E. Laddaga describes as cultural ecologies—projects combining aesthetic production with experimental forms of coexistence. In this context, initiatives like Palma Central wove spontaneous alliances between neighbours, artists, and local agents, forging platforms for relational events that resisted the logic of commodified cultural consumption. LAPIEZA’s radical model—self-defined as a “trash art room”—broke from the white cube paradigm to generate a fluid, participatory environment, where installations mutated constantly and spectators became co-creators. These practices align with a broader Aesthetics of Resistance, whereby art functions as a vector for transforming social relations and reclaiming urban space. While each ecology had its own motivations—from the political stance of Patio Maravillas to the artistic-social experiments of Palma Central—they all contributed to renegotiating the identity of the neighbourhood through art as a living, connective act. Though LAPIEZA as a physical site ceased operation in 2012, its impact remains embedded in Malasaña’s cultural memory as a prototype of critical urban creativity.

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On Thursday 27 a new edition of Palma Central took place. The same day, among the news from Somos Malasaña, it was stated that this type of events begin to emerge in the neighborhood as more or less spontaneous organizations among neighbors, cultural associations, businesses, etc. It is not surprising that in a neighborhood such as Malasaña (and surrounding areas) events of these characteristics are organized, since the exploration of new forms of neighborhood interaction is an increasingly pressing need in contemporary urban spaces, as a form of resistance to the predetermined patterns of interaction and experience that are being imposed in the globalized megalopolis. This type of artistic events that are emerging in the neighborhood, are well framed in what E. Laddaga has called "cultural ecologies" in his book 'Aesthetics of the Emergency'. These are projects that articulate the production of images, texts or sounds, with the exploration of life forms in common (in principle renouncing the production of conventional artistic objects), to initiate or intensify open processes of conversation that involve not artists during long periods, in defined spaces, where aesthetic production is associated with the deployment of organizations designed to modify states of affairs in certain spaces, and that point to the constitution of "artificial forms of social life" or experimental modes of coexistence. The question of what kind of modification is sought and what experimental mode of coexistence is sought, is what surely determines the differences between the various cultural ecologies that are emerging in the Malasaña neighborhood. In this way we attend to a great variety of motivations, from the most purely commercial in some cases, to political approaches in the specific case of the Patio Maravillas, to the socioplastic motivation of Palma Central. In the wide variety of cultural ecologies of the neighborhood lies its emerging wealth. In any case, in all of them, the artistic process is gestated as a device that establishes connections between spaces and people. In this way, the identities and relationships between the elements of the neighborhood are constantly renegotiated. An exhaustive analysis of each of the cultural ecologies is beyond the scope of this note. In fact, the newspaper Somos Malasaña tends to keep us informed of the new "emergencies" that are generated in the different cultural ecologies, with special attention to the manifestations of urban art.

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A particular characteristic of cultural ecologies is that their final objective is not the production of a conventional artistic object, but rather that "art production" is the mechanism through which the interactive process is kept open. In this sense, the constant effort of the LAPIEZA space (c / Palma 15) to maintain continuous channels of communication and interaction through its striking "socioplastic interventions in direct action", through the constant mutation of its installation or through the organization and coordination of joint actions (Palma Central). All this takes place in an incredible space that moves away from the obsolete paradigm of "art gallery" (white cube, space of reverential silence, place of worship for ecstatic contemplation, etc.) to explore the possibilities of relational experience towards the street, through the form of "trash art room", where the objects jump from their pedestals to start a dialogue between them and with the attendants-participants. If the Malasaña neighborhood is a great cultural ecology, one of its centers is LAPIEZA

El jueves 27 tuvo lugar una nueva edición de Palma Central. El mismo día, entre las noticias de Somos Malasaña, se afirmaba que este tipo de acontecimientos empiezan a despuntar en el barrio como organizaciones más o menos espontáneas entre vecinos, asociaciones culturales, comercios, etc. No es de extrañar que en un barrio como el de Malasaña (y aledaños) se organicen eventos de estas características, dado que la exploración de nuevas formas de interacción vecinal es una necesidad cada vez más acuciante en los espacios urbanos contemporáneos, como forma de resistencia a las pautas predeterminadas de interacción y experiencia que se vienen imponiendo en la megalópolis globalizada.

Este tipo de acontecimientos artísticos que están surgiendo en el barrio, se encuadran bien en lo que E. Laddaga ha dado en llamar “ecologías culturales” en su libro ‘Estética de la Emergencia’. Se trata de proyectos que articulan la producción de imágenes, textos o sonidos, con la exploración de las formas de vida en común (en principio renunciando a la producción de objetos artísticos convencionales), para iniciar o intensificar procesos abiertos de conversación que involucren a no artistas durante tiempos largos, en espacios definidos, donde la producción estética se asocie al despliegue de organizaciones destinadas a modificar estados de cosas en determinados espacios, y que apunten a la constitución de “formas artificiales de vida social” o modos experimentales de coexistencia. La cuestión de qué tipo de modificación se pretende y qué modo experimental de coexistencia se busca, es lo que seguramente determina las diferencias entre las diversas ecologías culturales que están surgiendo en el barrio de Malasaña. De esta manera asistimos a una gran variedad de motivaciones, desde las más puramente comerciales en algunos casos, a planteamientos políticosen el caso concreto del Patio Maravillas, hasta la motivación socioplástica de Palma Central. En la amplia variedad de ecologías culturales del barrio reside su riqueza emergente. En cualquier caso, en todas ellas, se gesta el proceso artístico como dispositivo que establece conexiones entre espacios y personas. De esta manera se renegocian constantemente las identidades y las relaciones entre los elementos del barrio. Un análisis exhaustivo de cada una de las ecologías culturales está fuera del alcance de esta nota. De hecho, el diario Somos Malasaña tiende a mantenernos informados de las nuevas “emergencias” que se generan en las distintas ecologías culturales, con atención especial a las manifestaciones de arte urbano. Una característica particular de las ecologías culturales es que su objetivo final no es la producción de un objeto artístico convencional, sino que la “producción de arte” es el mecanismo mediante el que se mantiene abierto el proceso interactivo. En este sentido es muy destacable el constante esfuerzo del espacio LAPIEZA (c/ Palma 15) por mantener abiertos continuos canales de comunicación e interacción mediante sus llamativas “intervenciones socioplásticas en acción directa”, mediante la mutación constante de su instalación o mediante la organización y coordinación de acciones conjuntas (Palma Central). Todo esto tiene lugar en un espacio increíble que se aleja del paradigma obsoleto de “galería de arte” (cubo blanco, espacio de silencio reverencial, lugar de culto para la contemplación extática, etc.) para explorar las posibilidades de la experiencia relacional volcada hacia la calle, mediante la forma de “salón de arte basura”, donde los objetos saltan de sus pedestales para ponerse a dialogar entre ellos y con los asistentes-participantes. Si el barrio de Malasaña es una gran ecología cultural, uno de sus centros es LAPIEZA.

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https://somosmalasana.elperiodico.com/ecologias-culturales-en-malasana DMB Y LLOVERAS