Video/ video installation

​

The work exists in two formats, a three screen installation with the duration of ten minutes as well as a single channel video with the duration of six minutes.

 

The Death of The Death imagines a world in which humans have achieved immortality. A figure from this reality, who appears in both the opening and closing scenes, narrates the work, recalling the repercussions of the advancement while visuals of the past life are screened, reflecting life as we know it now. The work presents a theory of what would happen if humans were to overcome mortality. With the death of death, we would lose our ability to feel, as our feelings are structured around the temporality of our lives. The work argues that feelings are not universal, but a specific quality of our existence on Earth. It highlights the positive side of death, which is normally perceived in a negative way, showing how its presence allows us to value life more.
 

The work draws on recent challenges and events, such as the pandemic, during which we lived in confinement, longing for a life that seemed to have become a memory of the past. At that time, the metaverse was marketed as a ‘safe way to interact with others,’ risking the loss of the life we knew in favor of a virtual reality not far removed from the fictional societies of cinema.

 

We live in a technological age in which we continually seek advances to ‘improve’ life. The concept of achieving immortality, explored in the piece, is a phenomenon currently being researched. It's achievement would break the natural cycle of our life. However, it is debatable whether overcoming death is unnatural or whether it is the next natural progression of the human species. The work argues that such advances do not necessarily lead to an improved existence.

​

The lockdown also significantly aggravated the mental health crisis. Beyond fiction, the work can be interpreted as a depiction of the symptoms of depression, which often manifest themselves in the inability to experience emotions. Awareness of death allows us to feel more fully by recognising that our time is limited, and helps us to regulate our emotions by reflecting on what is truly worthy of our attention.

 

For the creation of the work, over sixty scenes have been filmed in various locations significant to the artist, including; Valencia, Barcelona and Mota del Cuervo in Spain, Dublin in Ireland and Leszno in Poland. The work does not follow any specific protagonists, but shows fragments of different lives. More than 80 people close to the artist, of different ages, genders and backgrounds, have participated in the work.​​​​​​

​

The work was exhibited as part of the PAM!PAM!24 award exhibition at Atarazanas del Grao in Valencia, the Strip Art Festival at Centre Cívic Guinardó in Barcelona, and at the Irish Museum of Modern Art as part of the Living Canvas project.

​

Participants:
Flavia Costantino, Maarten D’Olislager, Marta Adamska, Michał Adamski, Rysiek, Pilar González Beltrán, Rossella D'Alterio, Jimena Peña Uribe, Emma Harbison, Anastasia Onikiienko, Irene Dauvé, Andrea Cobo Alcolado, Carlos Martínez Cano, Pablo Sánchez Cuevas, Tatiana Ostafi, Andreea Catalina Marcu, Czesław Otulakowski, Barbara Kudzielko, La Tati Kieta (Isaac Andújar Calderón), Marilina Larcinese, Antonio Monteagudo Zahonero, Patrick Alonso Calle Pesantes, Encarna Albert Bosch, Hazel O’Farrell, Maisie Grace Hourihane, Barbara Palmer, Héctor Ferrer Lasheras, Miriam Andrea Saraccini Ramírez, Jaime
Vielman, Juan Amesty, Andrés Castro, Eugenia Płociniczak, Alessandro Calvanese, Bernadeta Adamczak, Leszek Adamczak, Kiwi, Mina Nogueira Álvarez, Nerea Meneses Aguilar, Rubén Signes, Diego Olivares, Joaquín Pantoja Šćepanović, Carles Díaz, Joce Nuñez Baeza, Elena Giannadaki, Tormenta, Manuela Martín Figueroa, Andrés Felipe Quevedo Vidal, Renata Peraza González, Lucas Martín Velasco Faraci, María Ortuño Sala, Maria Abagnale, Tiziana Tedesco, Malena Requejo Rastell, Alfredo Gómez, José Fidel Cobo Cobo, Jan Płociniczak, Juan Sebastian Concha, Elm Solà Casaprima, Maria Stachowiak, Camila Velasco Restrepo, Anita Cao Liu, Janina Adamczak, Stanisława Zjeżdżałka, Ana Pérez Vicedo, Jorge Luis Caridad Morán, Jorge Jiménez Pulpón, Fatima Sofía Arriola Vielman, Nerea Sanz Ruiz, Fran García Gómez, Jessica Duque, Silvia Herrero, Victoria Martínez García, Natalia Cobo Alcolado, Aleksandra Karandashova, Mariángeles Alocado Fernández, Chen Fangyao, Hao Xinhuan,Àngel Alocado Sobrino, Karolina Adamczak,Ciarán O’Keeffe, Andrea Maleni, Orla Mairéad

​

​​