Francesc Torres IN RESiDENCE at the School Lluís Domènech i Montaner

VISIT TO THE SHOW 25% CATALONIA AT VENICE AT LA VIRREINA IMAGE CENTRE

Discovering the artist through his work:
One of the proposals that Francesc Torres made before the start of the residency was for the group to discover his work without his mediation. Accordingly, we organised a visit to the exhibition that he had created for the Venice Biennale.
This first visit gave the pupils an initial introduction to the artist's work before they had even met him personally or learned anything about his creative processes. This provided a good starting point for the pupils to imagine the scope of the artist's work.

THE PORTRAIT: FIRST MEETING

The first meeting between the pupils and the artist took place, to a large extent, through the camera lens.  The pupils presented themselves in the most appropriate way in their opinion, and Francesc Torres took their portraits, placing the accent on this self-presentation. Next, each of the pupils produced a portrait of Francesc Torres, asking him to strike particular poses or do particular actions.

MEMORY BOXES

The second proposal that Francesc Torres made to the pupils to enable them to discover his personal universe was that each should choose a personal object connected to their lives. This object should be presented in a paper box (like those made by printers to collect surplus ink). At the work sessions, each of the participants presented their object and told the story or memory that they associated with it.

ACTION IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

Continuing with the idea of marking out the world, an action is proposed in the Zona Franca neighbourhood, in places near the school, with a route designed by the pupils, to leave the marks (painted pottery balls) in the spots they want to highlight. 
Relations with other groups and/or teachers at the school:
In mid-February, the residency was presented to all the teachers at the school. Francesc Torres attended this meeting, informing those present about some of the main focuses of the working process. ICUB representatives were also at the meeting.

MACBA. MARKS AT THE MUSEUM

This is the point at which the idea of “marking the world”, the starting point of the entire creative process, is introduced. To work on this idea, the artist invites the group to go on a guided tour of the MACBA collection, and that each pupil should mark a place or work that interest, surprise or impress them. This marking is done using pieces of pottery made by the pupils themselves, and the action is recorded in a series of photographs.
As a result, the action ends with the marks (pottery pieces) that the pupils leave in front of what interest them most, or that they find most striking.
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THE HANDPRINT: A CONSTANT MOTIF IN CAVE PAINTINGS

Continuing with the idea of marking the world, the group discusses the ways in which humans have marked the world over the course of history, focusing particularly on an element that appears in many cave paintings in different places and at different periods: handprints. The group decides to produce an artwork on this subject, imitating the practice by creating a mural painting.

SELF-PORTRAITS IN PAINT

In several work sessions, self-representation and the portrait are discussed in relation to the idea of marking the world. The pupils create large paintings of characters that represent them, even though the work is not exactly realist in style.

VISIT TO THE NATIONAL ART MUSEUM OF CATALONIA

After several sessions devoted to painting, the group visits the National Art Museum of Catalonia to see a number of works, particularly Romanesque pieces that are new to the pupils. Apart from this, they should perhaps also discover works by Antoni Tàpies (an artist to whom many references have been made) and the idea is put forward of organising a visit to the foundation that bears his name.

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VISIT TO THE ANTONI TÀPIES FOUNDATION

In relation to the concept of marking the world, having studied the handprints found in cave paintings, Antoni Tàpies is another reference point mentioned many times. In order to discover his work, a visit to the Antoni Tàpies Foundation is organised.
This connection generates an important alliance for the project: the possibility of presenting the residency project at the Tàpies Foundation itself.

MARKING THE CITY/NEIGHBOURHOOD

The visit to the Antoni Tàpies Foundation generates a new proposal: to carry out an action of marking the neighbourhood, the pupils' nearest world. After discussing different ways of doing this, it is decided to make the marks using painted balls of clay, which will be left at different places in the environs of the school. In this case, the pieces are left in the place to be marked, and the action is recorded on photographs.

THE WORD

Language is also explored as a way of connecting to the world and marking it. Each pupil chooses a word, and a combined exercise is proposed in which all the words chosen are used to create a text. The result is that completely different texts are produced using the same words.

Visit to the Miró Foundation

Another key reference throughout the course was Joan Miró, as both a leading artist at the beginning of contemporary art and because many of his works include the mark, the imprint, the handprint. This is the reason for the visit to the Joan Miró Foundation offered to the group of pupils, who study some of the most important pieces in the collection, precisely looking for this element, so characteristic of Miró's art.
The activity revolves around a guided tour of the collection designed specifically for the project in cooperation with the museum's educational service.

FINAL PRESENTATION

The residency culminates with the presentation of the installation in the auditorium at the Antoni Tàpies Foundation. The installation, entitled Com marcar el món [How to Mark the World], brings together all the moments in the research and creative process: from photographs of the activities, paintings and markers made by the pupils to the very work materials and chairs from the school, which represent each of the participants.
To an audience made up of family members, teachers and other visitors, the pupils and the artist together present and describe the creative process and the different elements in the installation.