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On the occasion of the last days of his exhibition Poetic proposals in the LZ46 program at Galería Freijo, Bartolomé Ferrando will be performing a phonetic-sound action at the gallery on Thursday 13 February at 7pm.

He will also present his latest book En la línea del horizonte published by La única puerta a la izquierda, which will be on sale towards the end of the event.

The artist Reynier Leyva Novo will carry out a performance aimed at collecting dust from the ground and sidewalks around the Royal Palace of Madrid. He will use a standard gardening roller fitted with adhesive paper. In total silence, the artist will roll it over the ground and sidewalks surrounding the Royal Palace of Madrid.

“First, we are presented with Polvo de Estado (Global Active Dust Collection Center), previously produced in Washington, D.C., and now expanded to include institutional buildings and monuments in Madrid that, from various perspectives, define the contemporary state.

If we take a closer look at this re-collection of seemingly abstract images, we will see a kind of vibrant landscape, resulting from the collection of dust and other residues from the walls, floors, and sidewalks adjacent to these case studies. This is an unusual, almost non-human perspective that moves away from the solemn, conventional image of these institutions and monuments. It reveals the presence of small microorganisms—destined to be invisible or quite literally ‘swept away’—now emerging as central figures in the political sphere.

This contrast challenges discourses on the permanence of institutions and proposes a shift: the creation of an archive of that which often goes unnoticed yet constantly occurs around us. In doing so, it places institutions within the realm of the ephemeral but also the unpredictable, as no state is immune to the passage of time and its transformations. Thus, the supposed solidity of power shifts from the domain of permanence to that which is bound to disappear.

The selection of these spaces relates to the question of what defines a state and national identity, shaped by a set of narratives that are often contested but generally accepted. In the case of Madrid, ministries and institutions that have a profound impact on the rules governing life within a liberal citizenry intersect with spaces that embody discourses on knowledge and history in Spain—such as the National Library or the El Abrazo monument, dedicated to the memory of Spain’s transition to democracy, among others.”

—Inés Plasencia