Ficciones Compartidas
Ximo Berenguer Hernandis
Mon Cano Galvan
Ramon Cano Galvan
César Fuertes Llorens
Javier Gutiérrez
Juan Manuel López Carreño
Inés Miño Izquierdo
Andrea Moreno Orts
Ana Moure Rosende
Carlos Pastor García
La Cuarta Piel is a ‘community of practice’ working on research, design, and pedagogy. Their projects translate extractive processes that sustain human life in cities. These include materialising the ecological relations of these complex processes and bringing them closer to the human scale. An intermediation exercise that facilitates communication between knowledge, species and territories.
Standing in the intersection between art and architecture, la Cuarta Piel networks with sociologists, dramaturgs, curators, carpenters, biologists and other design practices; who link participatory processes to care for the environment. These processes are based on a sensitivity to the nearby ecosystem's needs, and a commitment to creating enjoyable meeting places.
Inspired by multinaturalism —amerindian cosmologies, revealing a particular configuration of distinctions between humans and non-humans that are irreducible to Western dichotomies of nature/culture— our research and design methodology seeks to expand the cognitive understanding of life on Earth, as well as to speculate possibilities about a universalist future integrating human as well as non-human agents, from other animals to algorithms and machines.
Since 2021, la Cuarta Piel has been developing situated research looking for more effective ways of transferring environmental narratives to a wider public by using mediums such as podcasts, spatial installations, performances and publications.
In exploring quarries' waste conflict, we created a spa using marble sludge. Learning fishermen techniques, we made a floating playground from old fishing nets. We explored interspecies relationships listening to concerts in a mushroom farm. In another case, we danced in a fictional earth crust crevice, revealing artificial strata from contaminated subsoil. All of these projects strive to create meaningful experiences that encourage people to reflect on their own role and capability of taking action.
Ficciones Compartidas is a long term research project focused on crossing productive landscapes investigation with radical material experimentation. Every year, the research is materialised as a public festival in Alicante; where the audience embarks on a journey, delving into the realm of nearby landscapes and communities of the neighbourhood. We want to map and enrich relationships with the territory, all through the lens of speculative design.
In each ecosystem addressed by Ficciones Compartidas since 2021, the team focuses on collaborating with nearby productive landscapes to forge fresh connections with the city, while exploring their political and environmental implications. We establish direct contact with experts, involved agents and the people who inhabit these territories. Regarding the design practice, we closely examine pivotal elements like raw materials, waste and industrial processes, prompting us to broaden their cultural significance. Our ultimate aspiration is to bolster the community's governance over these territories and cultivate sustainable and mindful development by encouraging active dialogue and citizen engagement.
Within its vibrant domain, a diverse and interactive public program comes to life, inviting participants to partake in engaging workshops, lectures and picnics. Through these compelling practical-theoretical interventions, Ficciones Compartidas becomes a complete encounter of playfulness and theory for experts and non-expert audience.
With bold aspirations and boundless determination, FC looks toward the horizon, eager to export its innovative methodology to new territories, enriching the cultural landscapes of various cities, and exploring the intricate tapestry of the surrounding environments.