Lúa Coderch, Julia Múgica, Lluís Nacenta & Iván Paz
Lúa Coderch, Julia Múgica, Lluís Nacenta & Iván Paz
Lúa Coderch
Artist and associate professor at BAU, Barcelona University Centre of Design. She holds a Master’s degree in Artistic Production and Research and a PhD in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona, and also trained as a sculptor at Escola Massana. She combines narrative and object-based practices in videos, performances, and installations that she configures as research devices. Her work is part of collections in museums and institutions such as MACBA, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Castile and León, and the Cal Cego Contemporary Art Collection, among others, and has been exhibited in shows such as Bienalsur (Argentina), the Joan Miró Foundation, Domus Artium, the University Museum of Contemporary Art (Mexico), and SMART (Netherlands).
https://www.baued.es/profesores/lua-coderch
Julia Múgica
She is a Mexican scientist currently exploring artistic practices related to complex processes in nature. With an interdisciplinary background spanning biology and computational physics, she is deeply interested in understanding how collectives make decisions that lead to behavioural synchrony.
https://mutek.org/es/artistas/julia-mugica-ivan-paz
Lluís Nacenta
Lluís Nacenta is a professor, writer, and curator in the fields of music and contemporary art. He holds degrees in Mathematics and Music (piano), a Master’s in Comparative Studies of Literature, Art and Philosophy, and a PhD in Humanities, with a doctoral thesis on musical repetition. His research proposes a philosophical perspective on sound arts. He has published numerous articles in digital and print publications such as Cultura/s of La Vanguardia and Nativa, and has curated exhibitions and concerts for Sónar+D, Arts Santa Mònica, the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), and the Antoni Tàpies Foundation, among others.
Since January 2018 he has been the director of Hangar.
https://www.cccb.org/es/participantes/ficha/lluis-nacenta/45208
Iván Paz, Mexico City, 1978
He studied physics and mathematics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). During this period he also experimented with music and photography. His main interests are science, art, technology, and how their interaction can create new aesthetic, conceptual, and intellectual directions.
In 2006 he began working as a sound engineering teacher. From this process, in 2011 he devised and directed a seminar on mathematical methods applied to musical composition at UNAM. The activities developed there produced numerous collaborations and working processes, such as live coding sessions in collaboration with the National Centre for the Arts of Mexico (CNA).
17TH EDITION OF THE ARCO/BEEP ELECTRONIC ART AWARD.
Work in the collection: “Echo”
"Echo", 2021
The artwork Echo has won the ARCO/Beep Electronic Art Award. The prestigious contemporary art fair, held in Madrid from February 23 to 27, recognized the work of Lúa Coderch, head of the Fine Arts degree program and professor at BAU, together with Julia Múgica, Lluís Nacenta, and Iván Paz.
The jury highlighted its contemporary reinterpretation of the myth of the nymph Echo through a posthuman object (made of upholstered wood and synthetic hair) next to which there is a small stool that allows interaction with the audience.
“So close, so far away”
According to the authors, the piece functions as “a body among bodies” and points to the difficulties of communication and the search for meaning. “It represents an allegory of our need to find correspondence,” they explain. Invoking Echo therefore means rescuing the nymph from oblivion and recovering her voice after the rejection of Narcissus.
A project created by four artists
Echo was presented at Dilalica during this season’s Barcelona Gallery Weekend and arrived at ARCO through àngels Barcelona. The collaborative philosophy of the piece, the result of the joint work of two galleries and four artists, was one of the aspects most appreciated at the event.
The ARCO/Beep Award promotes research, production, and exhibition of art related to new technologies and electronic art.