The ritual of erasure enacted within the hotel room operates as a mechanism of negation, a procedural effacement of the traces left by the ephemeral presence of bodies.
At each departure, a process akin to liturgy reinstates a condition of absolute neutrality: freshly laundered sheets, polished surfaces, corporeal residues dissolved, memories nullified. This gesture, dictated by the imperatives of hygiene and standardization, exceeds its material function; it constitutes a symbolic practice that posits absence as the foundational premise of hospitality. By denying all persistence, by returning the room to a state of originary indistinction, the ritual paradoxically safeguards the universal dimension of individual experience.
Alpha-Amylase, made out of a bedsheet upon which Sacha Gabilan and Marouane Bakhti spent a night, seeks to invert this ritualized erasure by preserving and sacralizing fragments of life ordinarily destined for disappearance.
This sculpture was created as part of Solo Hotel, an invitation from @carolinerosecurdy and @cons.kyr at @fondationpernodricard
Alpha-amylase‘, mixed media, 2025
190x40x30cm
Pictures by @pavomar
Visual research and scenography for the first chapter of ‘MAJNUN’ by @sorourdarabi__ with live music by @pablo_altar as part of ‘Chi esce entra - A Tribute Exhibition to a Disappearing Building’, a group show curated by @simonwmarin at @bhmpi
The Sanctuary of Arantzazu, located on a cliffside near Oñati in the Basque Country, is a fusion of ancient pilgrimage tradition and radical modernist architecture. It commemorates a 15th-century apparition of the Virgin Mary, discovered by a shepherd in a hawthorn bush, “Arantzan zu?” meaning “You, in the thorns?” in Basque. The current sanctuary, built between 1950 and the 1990s, was designed by Sáenz de Oiza and Luis Laorga, and showcases Basque artists of the 20th century: Jorge Oteiza sculpted the 14 Apostles on the façade, Eduardo Chillida forged the monumental iron entrance doors, and Lucio Muñoz created the massive expressionist altarpiece. Despite early resistance from Church authorities due to its avant-garde style, the sanctuary became a powerful symbol of Basque cultural resilience, also playing a key role in the promotion of the Basque language.
Archives from La fin du monde sera faite de ce genre de choses, a collection of photographs gathered via an online second-hand marketplace, in which strangers sent me images of themselves alongside the objects they were selling.
Grateful to have my pieces included in SELAH, @gabrielomoses solo show currently on view at @180.studios
Endless thanks to @emilia.margulies for her support and for weaving my work into her always sharp and thoughtful vision
