RE:SOURCE Residency | Part 2: The Sanctuary
We are very excited to announce the selected artist for the second RE:SOURCE residency. We congratulate Luis Lecea Romera on being selected for the residency located at the Transboundary Biosphere Reserve Gerês-Xurês, in the North Region of Portugal. In collaboration with FIBER and Semibreve Festival, Luis will explore the contradictions of the Natural Reserve as an area for the protection of some desirable species at the expense of others.
Luis Lecea Romera is an artist, architect and musician based in Madrid and Amsterdam. His practice manipulates material and aural spaces through site-relational installations, compositions and performances. For this residency, Luis will research the history of Portugal’s eucalyptus trees, which are used in the production of eucalyptus cellulose for papermaking. More than 160 years have passed since the first eucalyptus seeds arrived in Galicia, making it an invader species within the landscapes. Eucalypti are evergreen, fast-growing, and, most importantly, highly profitable. However, they are criticized for their impact on local flora and high flammability. Despite this, the Portuguese paper industry opposes regulations on eucalyptus cultivation.
In the context of the residency and its preparation, Luis will deepen on the mechanisms by which the eucalyptus tree catalyzes and symbolizes past and present political and ecological pulses between predatory exploitation and conservation of natural heritage. He will focus on the chainsaw as a contradictory tool for the building and protection of what we understand as a natural sanctuary. The research will lead into a multichannel sound installation, using the structure of 12 various chainsaw-blades. The resulting composition will be written as a sound action that invites to reflect through sound on the contradictions of contemporary landscapes, and its irregular rhythms and pulses.