Curatorial text

NEUMA - a morphosis of the human being

The sculptural installation Neuma (from the gr. Πνεῦμα pneûma 'spirit', 'breath', 'breath') has been commissioned by art collector Tatxo Benet Ferran after his personal experience overcoming Covid19 during the 2020 pandemic. An act so vital, fundamental and unconscious at the same time, has become the protagonist in this work. The sculpture breathes. Inhaling and exhaling at a human pace, thus filling the space with its abstract presence. The material and shape allow each breath to be surprising, and the randomness of the rhythm causes a certain unease. It is precisely this concern that speaks to us of the vital importance, respiratory tension, the obvious that becomes the essential. The material taken to the limit can allude to the human being brought to its extreme, the tension of the rubber metaphor for the tension we can experience when faced with the challenges of life. Neuma represents a morphosis of the human being, with its imperfections and fragility. Strong and resistant but flexible and fragile at the same time.

A microcomputer process control system has been created for Neuma to generate its own respiration. Their experience generates their vital breath, their autonomy. The work can be visited at the Ona bookstore, Calle Pau Claris 94 in the center of Barcelona. The sculpture is in the Bookeria, the library's auditorium. Neuma Ona has been developed as part of EN EXPANSIÓN, a sculptural project that materializes and represents the most intimate impulses of man, desire as the motor of action. It has been developed since 2016.