Moments of Relaxation

Die Momente der Entspannung

In the show «Moments of Relaxation» traditional Basque rural sport interact with sculpture. Both meanings of the moment like motive power and weight, as well as the temporal moment of waiting and repeatness are reflected in each work. Part of the installation are active Stone Drillers (Barrenadores) who will be punching a hole with a long metal pole. Accompanying there will be a performance of the famous Stone Lifter (Harrijasotzaile) Inaki Perurena, the first person in the world who lifted a stone weighing over 300kg. A main challenge is to lift the stone and to keep it in balance on the shoulder in a specified number of attempts. He will be talking about his experiences in Basque language.

The sporting duel with nature demonstrates a confrontation between men’s physical strength and the stone’s resistance of gravity, hardness and endurance.
Also when stone is sculpted the act of balance is a great issue. While shaping the stone there’s always the risk to destroy it. But it needs to take a risk to go ahead in time.
One of the sculptures, «Record Player», consists of a block of granite with a circulating turntable that plays its own materiality through a metal needle and so becomes a sounding stone.
In the work «Gym Horse» the main body is substituted by a block of sandstone. The massive weight which is hold up in the air signifies its potential energy.
While the gym horse animates to jump over it, the work «It’s a long way to become a pillow» does the opposite and animate to relax. The pillows are made from limestones including fossils. On their journey of billions of years they have been through the tropical sea, continental movement and the ice age, later they came down the river bed to end up in this place. For a short moment in relation to their history the wild river stones receive a look of pillows in which they are conserved from their natural decay. The mass of the stone is transformed into a soft and light volume with the fossils turning into a textile pattern.

curated by Mateo Feijoo
Azkuna Zentroa Bilbao 2016

The long way to become a pillow  –  20 limestone boulders with marine fossiles
Gym Horse   –  block of sandstone, metall frame, 140cm height
Record Player –  block of grey granite, pickup, motor, speaker