In the ongoing Supernatural series, Anto Lloveras utilizes the architectural skin of Cádiz as a "recently activated" canvas for the installation of 12 Tagarninas—a project that harmonizes local wild food with ritualistic performance. By arranging these indigenous plants in a circular formation, specifically defined by the physical reach of the artist’s arm, Lloveras creates a temporary altar that bridges the gap between the mundane act of eating and the sacred act of display. This "Wall Ritual" is not intended for permanence; it operates on the principle of "No Leftovers," where the sequence—Take Display, Picture, Cook, Eat, Post—transforms the artwork from a visual object into a biological one. Drawing conceptual lineage from aboriginal Mexican food rituals and his own "As Far as the Arm Can Reach" sub-series, Lloveras recontextualizes the tagarnina as a symbol of regional identity and ephemeral beauty, proving that socioplastics can be both visually arresting and literally digestible. The placement of these wild thistles against the whitewashed walls of Cádiz invokes a "Five-Century Narratives" dialogue, where the historic architecture of the city interacts with the biological immediacy of the local flora. This third installation in the series emphasizes the "ephemeral display" as a core tenet of Lloveras's methodology; the wall is not a static surface but a participant in a situational fix. By referencing Rafael Alberti’s Cruz de viento, the installation also assumes a poetic and cardinal dimension, aligning the cardinal points—North, South, East, West—with the physical placement of the food-art. This synthesis of literature, regional botany, and minimalist sculpture reinforces the idea that the "Light in Cádiz" is a multifaceted phenomenon that illuminates the historical continuity of Spanish culture through the lens of contemporary, transdisciplinary art.
Furthermore, the Supernatural series connects the rice fields of Vejer with the urban environment of Cádiz, suggesting a seamless "relational body" that spans the rural and the metropolitan. The inclusion of "maquedas workshop collection" objects and "palm tree skins" in related iterations underscores an interest in the taxidermy of the site—preserving the essence of a location through its discarded or overlooked materials. Lloveras’s "As Far as the Arm Can Reach" concept, which originated as a "subtraction" in Norway, is here reapplied as an additive ritual, demonstrating the portability of his socioplastic theories. The circle, as a geometric form, provides a sense of enclosure and sacredness, yet its scale is strictly determined by the human body, ensuring that the intervention remains intimate and anthropocentric.
Ultimately, the Cádiz installations serve as a critical juncture in Lloveras’s global archive, linking his "Streaming Egos" in Düsseldorf and his "Mute Series" in Mexico City through a shared interest in the ritualistic activation of space. The process of documenting the work for online exhibition—the "Post" phase of the cycle—ensures that while the physical tagarninas are consumed, their aesthetic and symbolic resonance is preserved in the digital ether. This movement from the soil to the wall, and finally to the table and the screen, encapsulates the modern artist’s role as a situational fixer. Lloveras succeeds in making the supernatural tangible, proving that art is a living, breathing, and ultimately nourishing cycle that feeds both the intellect and the body within the enduring light of the Iberian Peninsula.
Lloveras, A. (2016). The Light in Cádiz: Wall Rituals. [online] Anto Lloveras Socioplastics. Available at:
