Residencies / Site-Specific / Art Network

Last interventions

Invited-One-Day

homesession residency

Last news on the blog

Artist-In-Residence Barcelona

homesession offers since 2007 an atypical artist-in-residence program, which consists in short-term residencies and a strong involvement within the local community.

Site-specific: Invited-One-Day

homesession investigates the relation between artworks and their context: Invited-One-Day is a specific program developed in collaboration with spanish artists.

Promoting emergent artists

We aim at giving a support to the diffusion of emergent artists' works, through the webpage, the newsletter and social on-line & off-line networks.

Send your apply form

You can apply to the residency or to the website artist selection. All the materials required are listed in these sections.

MANEKI NEKO, a video art work by Ramon Guimaraes

...in a quick look

The artist appears disguised as a "fortune cat" and is beckoning with the right hand, imitating the well-known eastern icon, which is believed to bring fortune to the owner. Nevertheless, unlike the common maneki-neko, the beckonng gesture of the artist seems to be irregular, accelerating and slowing to a casual rhythm.

This endless welcome is actually following the rhythm of a line of subtitles, which explain something we all know about fortune (in english, spanish and french). The presentation of the opportunity to reach the so-called fortune seems to provoke an acceleration of the gesture, whereas the evocation of the risks apparently moderates the artist's enthusiasm.

...as an experience

Our first feeling is the fun, as the imitation of this simple and fashionable object by the artist is obviously ironic and theatrical. This feeling is reinforced by the suggestion of three methods to reach fortune. However, the absurdity of these methods repeated in an endless video loop soon gives us a weird feeling, going beyond the simple fun and exposing a critical perspective on a commonly accepted vision of life.

...and its intentions

This global-cultural icon allows Ramon Guimaraes to work on the ambiguity of the word "fortune", understanding it as luck or wellness according to the context. The video questions our dependence on fortune (understood as luck), as the ideal way to escape from our social condition. But the video also presents different ways of building a fortune (understood as wellness), as it remains a central value in our post-capitalist society. The notion of fortune, which is being criticized by the artist, is a mix of both these concepts: Ramon Guimaraes ironically questions the social importance given to the luck, that would represent the fact of reaching the iconic wellness of the wealthiest people.