Outdoor
Public Installations
"Protegix allò que estimes" Falla Municipal 2022
Year
2022
Location
València, Spain
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Organized and managed by
Ajuntament de València
Photos by
Carlos Segura y Jesus Amable Gil
The 2022 town council’s Falla monument, called Protegeix allò que estimes (Protect what you love) has two complementary readings. The front of the sculpture displays a series of animals, amongst which a polar bear stands out. Their postures suggest a precarious balance between objects, trees and plants. At the same time, they seem to be living in a stressful moment and time; we are struck by the bear dripping parts of its own composition, as if it were made of ice and was thawing. The rear part of the structure reveals a dirty and worn-out mechanism, with rusty metal parts and wilting plants and trees. It is the backroom of an unsustainable consumer system, in which the front part is the showcase of an outward appearance that cannot meet the real demand. The preliminary sketches of this work, as well as a tentative painting of the final monument, help us to understand other works by Dulk carried out in the form of small sculptures, amulets or souvenirs.
A universe of vivid colors, of strident demands, of reflections on the opaque mirror of our mutual responsibility.
-Álvaro de los Ángeles
Protegeix Allò Que Estimes
Antonio Segura is the designer of the 2022 municipal Falla that, under the slogan “Protegeix Allò que estimes” (Protect What You Love), embodies the need for climate awareness and the defense of increasingly fragile ecosystems and their inhabitants. Beyond the monument’s specific project, a proposal is conceived to revolve around the defense of ecosystems and how this fact affects the species and the loss of their habitats. That brings us closer to Antonio Segura’s creative universe.
The Falla Municipal of Valencia 2022 embodies the systemic threat that our planet suffers from the human action, as well as the unavoidable consequences that we face about climate change, extinction of species and other changes that concern us. We are moving to an uncertain and unflattering scenario for endemic ecosystems and the development of species. -Isabel Puig
Where everything started
The Fallas creation goes through a process that combines the most cutting-edge research, with the craftsmanship more rooted in tradition. We trace this route by the hand of Antonio Segura, Dulk and the fallero artist Alejandro Santaeulalia.
The proposed project achieves the integration of the work in the public space.. This can only be achieved by the mastery of Alejandro Santaeulalia, a member of a saga of artists who are living history of the Fallas of Valencia, with the union of Dulk’s unique language. The charisma of his characters, the ideal chromaticism and the striking criticism that inhabits his works make this proposal the perfect combination.
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“We have vision before we utter words. The child looks before speaking”.
-John Berguer
Where everything comes alive
Fallas, like urban art, are artistic expressions born to live on the street. They are ephemeral art within everyone’s reach. For this reason, both the visual impact and the message to be transmitted plays a fundamental role in awakening sensations in the viewer. With the proposed design for the 2021 municipal falla, we want to invite the viewer on a journey where they can dream and imagine, while also reflecting.
In this process, by which the sign ultimately becomes, symbolic per se, reality is created or constructed or, at least, what is represented acquires a halo of veracity that manages to teach, educate, show… something specific in the eyes, in the mind and in the heart of the beholder. The style is also defined by the outlined treatment and finish of the forms, the natural gestures of the animals, the detailed use of color coexisting as a protagonist or as a further level of creative discourse. By (re)creating these worlds as if they coexist with the one we understand and perceive as real, the message is understood directly, the persuasive language of the artist is accepted in a calm, natural and intimate way, as part of a learning and assimilation process.
In the monument known as Falla Municipal de València of 2022, entitled Protegix allò que estimes, this procedure is clearly observed. Again, the monument has two complementary readings. The obverse shows a series of animals, among which a white bear stands out, though its posture suggests a precarious balance, in a disconcerting setting with objects and trees and plants. At the same time, they suggest a stressful moment and time; we are struck by the bear dripping parts of its own composition, as if it were thawing ice. The rear part reveals a dirty and worn-out mechanism, with rusty metal parts and wilting plants and trees. It is the backroom of an unsustainable consumption system, where the front part is the showcase of a dynamic that cannot fully meet the real and ongoing demand. Having here the previous sketches of this work, as well as a tentative picture of the final monument, helps us to understand other works presented as small sculptures, amulets or souvenirs – a universe of vivid colors, of garish demands, of reflections on the opaque mirror of our mutual responsibilities.
-Álvaro de los Ángeles
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