Land/ Tierra: Una idea de Paisaje

I was invited to participate in the project ’Una idea de paisaje’ by curator and artist Juan Carlos Bracho to represent Gibraltar in this project. The idea of the project was to invite artists around Campo de Gibraltar area, also from Madrid, where Bracho lives and from abroad, to reflect about the idea of landscape through different perspectives, methodologies, disciplines and to develop an art project over a week at the Manolo Ales Gallery in La Linea. The project was developed over Three months and many National and international artists collaborated in the project. All the artists developed their projects in collaboration with other cultural or social associations. My project was developed into three parts:

• The installation ‘LAND’. Letters made out of plant pots which had wheat inside and which grew over the period of the week. 

• The research into the theme of Land in relationship to the physical, poetical, social and Cultural layers or connections. This was done over a round table where the public was invited to participate and collaborate with the invited guests who discussed the theme of Land in relationship to Una idea de paisaje.

•  A collaboration with Dancer/ Choreographer Nathan Conroy who developed his interpretation in to the connections historically and socially between Gibraltar and La Linea de la Concepcion in relationship to the project 'LAND': Una idea de paisaje.

Alan Pérez's work, as he himself comments, is nourished by the street, by his direct relationship with his environment, and above all by a critical vision of social, political and historical issues.

The installation ‘LAND’ that Alan presented in the Manolo Ales Gallery, was based on the Gibraltarian tradition of planting small pots of wheat at home during the month of December. Observing day by day how a seed germinates and turns into an intense green stem, which  is a pure metaphor for the cycle of life, good luck for the coming year and the prosperity associated since ancient times with this essential food in Mediterranean cultures; also being the straits of Gibraltar, the pillars of Hercules, the beginning and end of the known world, again an eternal return.

All the visual documentation of this project was presented in the exhibition in Madrid.

The project was presented in an exhibition in Madrid on the 12th April 2024 in the Studio/ gallery of renowned International Cuban artist Dagoberto Rodriguez. During the event The curator also presented the digital catalogue of Una idea de Paisaje available for free in the link bellow

My project is an organic installation in the collective project 'Una Idea de Paisaje', curated by Juan Carlos Bracho. It is based on the word LAND that will grew with wheat seeds during the week of 2nd to 8th May 2022. In Gibraltar many people plant wheat during the month of December and on New Year's Eve they throw it out of the windows for good luck in the coming year. The word LAND has connections to the landscape at a visual level and at other levels, it relates to the human obsession to invade, conquer and want what he does not have. Since Russia has invaded Ukraine, the war conflict is constantly on television, social networks and in my thoughts.

Mi projecto es una Instalacion orgánica en el projecto colectivo 'Una idea de paisaje', comisarado por Juan Carlos Bracho. Se basa en la palabra LAND que cresio con semillas de trigo durante la Semana del 2 al 8 de Mayo 2022. En Gibraltar mucha gente planta trigo durante el mes de Diciembre y la noche de año nuevo lo tiran por las ventanas para tener buena suerte en el año que viene. La palabra Land tiene conexciones al paisaje a un nivel visual y a otros niveles se relaciona con la obsession del humano por invadir, conquistar y querer lo que no tiene. Desde que Russia ha invadido a Ucrania, el conflicto de la Guerra esta constantemente en la television, redes sociales y en mis pensamientos.

As part of the project Curated by the artist Juan Carlos Bracho (An Idea of ​​Landscape) I developed a project titled LAND. As part of the week-long collaboration I set up a discussion forum/open table to discuss the idea of ​​Una idea de paisaje, in relation to my contribution project LAND. It took place on Wednesday, May 4 at 6pm at La Galeria Manuel Ales in La Linea.

Como parte del proyecto Comisorado por el artista Juan Carlos Bracho (Una idea de paisaje)  desarrolle un proyecto titulado LAND. Como parte de la colaboración de una semana  prepare un foro de discusión/ mesa abierta para discutir la idea de Una idea de paisaje en relacion a mi contribución LAND. Miércoles 4 de mayo 2022 a las 6pm en La Galeria Manuel Ales en La Linea.

The human body is also a landscape with its dunes, its valleys, its hills and its spaces to explore and conquer. In collaboration with a group of dancers from his Art in Movement school, choreographer Nathan Conroy ''activated'' Alan's seedbeds, and put them into movement, dancing and writing for the first time the word LAND, also the title of the choreographed piece. It was a performance exercise, with the earth as a symbolic element; a territory in constant tension, in struggle, expression of the greed and obsession of the human being to possess and subjugate the weakest.

The days before the premiere of Land, a work designed for Una idea de Paisaje, the Municipal Gallery was transformed again, becoming a temporary rehearsal space, a place where Nathan and his students lived with the visitors and the seeds Installation by Alan Perez.

El cuerpo humano es tambien un paisaje con sus dunas, sus valles, sus colinas y sus espacios por explorar y conquistar. En colaboración con un grupo de bailarines de su escuela Art in Movement, el coreógrafo Nathan Conroy ''activo'' los semilleros de Alan, y los puso en movimiento, bailando y escribiendo por primera vez la palabra LAND, título también de la pieza coreografica. se trato de un ejercicio peformativo, con la tierra como elemento simbólico; un territorio en tensión constate, en lucha, expresión de la codicia y la obsesión del ser humano por poseer y someter al más débil.

Los días previos al estreno de Land, obra pensada para Una Idea de Paisaje, la Galería Municipal se transformó de nuevo, convirtiéndose en transitorio local de ensayo, un lugar donde Nathan y sus lumnos convivieron con los visitantes y las semillas de Alan.