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Nada reiterada..., 2005-2008

Graphic material, 87 pages 18 x 11 cm each. Installation dimensions variable

Nada reiterada is a significant work in the sculptural production of Mar Arza, whose interest lies in object-books physically and textually intervened. The work begins with a copy of the novel Nada by Carmen Laforet (Barcelona, 1921 – Madrid, 2004), an existentialist text published in 1945 and winner of the 1944 Nadal Prize, which describes the social and cultural oppressiveness of the Spanish post-war period. Despite its immediate success and prominent place in post-war literature, it was forgotten until the 2000s, when it was re-published to popular acclaim.

With an impeccable execution, Arza has cut out and extracted the text of the novel following the outline of the words, except for some strategically preserved together with some punctuation marks, which remain visible and configure a new, poetic and powerful text. What the artist has not cut out is the heading of the pages, including the numbering and the title of the novel, a reiterated Nada (Nothingness) that appears page after page, in a double game that simultaneously refers to the artist’s emptying of the text. Arza places the 87 pages of the novel in a large composition on the wall. Fixed with pins, it creates an ethereal sensation of great visual efficiency. The game of emptiness in the text and shadows on the wall, the feeling of wounds and subtle cuts, and the blank spaces corresponding to each of the missing words emphasise the forcefulness and poetics of the few phrases that the artist has decided to keep. The nothingness invoked by Nada reiterada points in more than one direction: the emptiness of post-war daily life, the oblivion subsequently suffered by the novel and the narrative gaps that the artist opens in the text.


Technical details

Original title:
Nada reiterada...
Registration number:
5859
Artist:
Arza, Mar
Date created:
2005-2008
Date acquired:
2020
Fonds:
MACBA Collection. MACBA Foundation
Object type:
Graphic material
Dimensions:
87 pages 18 x 11 cm each. Installation dimensions variable (height x width)
Room:
Meier Building, Level 1
Credits:
MACBA Collection. MACBA Foundation
Copyright:
© Mar Arza
It has accessibility resources:
No

The MACBA Collection features Catalan, Spanish and international art and, although it includes works from the 1920s onwards, its primary focus is on the period between the 1960s and the present.

For more information on the work or the artist, please consult MACBA's Library. To request a loan of the work, please write to colleccio [at] macba.cat.

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