SOCIOPLASTICS

There has been a growing focus of interest in relational and intersubjective processes within different contexts. Psychology, sociology, biology or neuroscience, among other disciplines, cease to focus on the specific entities that were conventionally defined as individuals, to become interested in the fluid network of relationships in which they are inserted. Art is also no stranger to this paradigm shift that involves shifting the boundaries of the hitherto narrow concept of the individual, to include in it the relationships it establishes. The artistic object has been raised for many years as interacting with the different subjects that surround it and even immersed in its own network of significant relationships. In this sense, a whole theory has been developed that focuses more on the reception of the work of art than on its production. But still, the differences between work-object, subject-producer and subject-receiver have been maintained. In the last 10-20 years, however, and in close relationship with so many factors that it is impossible to analyze them in this space, there is a type of artistic representation that also seeks to erase these limits, proposing a type of art that consists precisely in the relationship.

If some kind of artistic object is generated in the event of this relationship, it will also form part of the relationship and the work, further enriching the relational network, but the mere production of objects is not in itself the purpose. A characteristic of this type of relational art is the concern generated by the perception of the general impoverishment of the relational sphere mediated by globalization and the forms of relations imposed. It is not a question of preferring archaic or obsolete forms of relationship over technological innovations in this area, but rather of resistance to the forced reduction of the repertoire. From these perspectives it is understood that the dismantling of some relational modes is due to interests that intend to dismantle the social generative capacity, so that potentially transformative relationships are replaced by comfortable relationships, without conflicts and uncritical. Many proposals of relational art, therefore, by promoting a reestablishment of relational repertoires that lead to the generation of social changes, even at the microlocal level, reactivate movements at the neighborhood and neighborhood level with a view to recovering all their transformative potential.

In the neighborhood of Malasaña an intense relational activity is taking place that unfolds from the LAPIEZA space on Palma 15. On previous occasions we have referred to this space in the neighborhood as one of the most dynamic in relation to the genesis of ecologies cultural. It may be necessary to explain something about how this site works. It is a room that, as the name implies, presents a “piece” constituted from the contributions that different people make. This piece is transformed, in parallel to the relationship that is established within the space. But in addition, the relational field meets the street, in periodic cultural-relational activities such as Palma Central, an event that brings together various cultural entities of Palma Street once a month.But let's go back to LAPIEZA. There, through periodic "mutations", the whole of the installation (formed, remember, by the contributions of various producers) is transformed at an increasing rate through accumulation strategies and what N. Borriaud calls semi-nautical. Semi-nautical is the process by which new communication channels are established between signs of different types. From this perspective, art in LAPIEZA ceases to be a process of generating objects to become an activity dedicated to establishing new connections and senses between the different signs that surround us. 

Given that LAPIEZA defines itself with a “socioplastic” vocation and as a space dedicated to Junk Art, it is evident that the new connections and senses that are generated in its field tend to try to make social processes conscious and intervene on them, for which they are used strategies such as performance and various activities that could be framed in procedural art, but also do not give up the socio-plastic manifestation in the form of video, installation or even seemingly more traditional forms such as painting or sculpture. When this is the case, the elaboration from pre-existing objects is privileged, and not due to a superficially ecological recycling vocation, but in the context of the semi-nautical described, as a way of reintroducing prematurely discarded signs in the sense circuits that retain significant power for the elaboration of diverse narratives.

It is obvious, therefore, that in this process objects are generated, but its main mission will be to serve as a link or exchange station between signs that were previously isolated, The relational socioplastic that promotes LAPIEZA is not restricted to a single spatial scope such as the events organized in the room. They are not even limited to the space of Palma Street in the context of the Palma Central cultural event. They expand throughout the neighborhood of Malasaña and surrounding areas in synergies between different environments, and also occupy virtual spaces such as the relational community created in the social network Facebook, or the blogosphere through the blog lapiece cleaning and all the ramifications that start from them. We hope that in this new season that opens, LAPIEZA will continue to contribute to the enrichment of the relational sphere and its socio-plastic transformation, from the Malasaña neighborhood to the entire globalized world.