Marta Bisbal Torres IN RESIDENCE at the Torre Vicens Institute

Tuesday, June 2

In an exploration of the spaces of the institute, we climb up to the attic. There the structure of the building is visible. The geometry and linearity of the beams and the orderly superposition of bricks contrast with piles of objects and parts of unidentified objects that are collected there. With a look inspired by the heights, the dust and artists of different generations -such as Leandre Cristòfol or Yuko Mohri, who have been part of the research process undertaken throughout the course-, we let ourselves be captivated by what we find there: obsolete, discarded, rejected matter, but, nevertheless, for some reason kept, even with a label that says “to throw away”. Mathematical rationality alongside the irrationality and chaos of the waste of the consumer society.

Like someone who finds an object that they recognize as their own, we immediately appropriate it. We discover artistic and poetic qualities in all those clusters of abandoned, forgotten or indefinitely waiting materiality. We look at them closely, analyze, index, catalog, photograph, measure and clean them carefully. We reflect on their sustainability and the environmental impact of both producing them and turning them into waste. We look for a place to display and revalue them, while making known what is surplus in our daily lives. These lost objects are not just something in potential, transformable or that could be part of an assemblage, each one is a work in itself. They are now in a museum with the intention of questioning the conventions of art and establishing a dialogue with other works.

During the 2025-2026 academic year, the artist Marta Bisbal Torres has been developing a creative process with 3rd year ESO students from the Torre Vicens high school, in Lleida, as part of the 17th edition of the IN RESIDENCE program. Artists in high schools, with the support of the Generalitat through the Culture and Education Program and the Barcelona Institute of Culture.

With students Ian Iglesias, Kalijatou Jallow, Denisa Jantîc, Seikou Manneh, Aroa Navarro, Mouad Oujana, Ada Rabadán, Genís Rodríguez, Gabriel Puica, Aminata Sambou, N’djo Sangaré, Alima Sidibe and teachers Meritxell Miret and Alba Solaní.