archaeography

From the series Casas Doentes (2007)

During 2006 I photographed these casas doentes (“ill houses”) throughout Galiza (Spain). My aim was not that of an architectural historian. I did not intend to make a catalogue of the houses or propose typologies, and although their characteristics are reflected on the photos, my approach came from elsewhere. I am mainly interested in the images’ ability to suggest things.

The archive is a space for accumulating information, which allows researchers to establish connections later. This was not the objective of the archive that I created for this project. The aim was to use the piling of images as an aesthetic resource. This is how the installation emerged: it is composed of four spotlights that project an assemblage of 300 images of façades almost at real size (3 x 3 meters).

The concept of typology often underlies recent artistic work that resorts to the idea of the archive as a conceptual basis, such as the photographs by Bernd and Hilla Becher. In "Ill Houses", the concept of typology is not important. I avoid typological groupings and mix images of houses of very different types intentionally, trying to reflect somewhat the chaos that can be perceived in the Galician landscape today.

I do not want to make fun of the houses. I am interested in representing them in all their dignity, despite the ruins they have become. I focus on their evocative power and on their potential to interrogate us.

The word doente does not mean only “ill”, but also angry. Quite right too, given the new architecture that is superseding these old houses. This explains the title that I chose and the dignity with which I tried to photograph them.