• Print version
• Send to a friend

Laboratorium Investigations

Text Jaume Vidal

Laboratorium
© Dani Codina

When we hear about the art market, generally the reference is to large international auctions such as the one that took place in September, 2008 for Damien Hirt's work, the artist who became famous after his shark submerged in formaldehyde was sold for millions. This market, however, has very little relation to what should serve to stimulate the everyday work of those other artists who do not aspire to become millionaires but instead simply want to make a living. In Catalonia, the lack of an art collecting tradition among the middle classes makes it difficult for a local artist to live on his or her work. This is why when Pere Ginard (Mallorca, 1974) finished his degree in Fine Arts he signed up at Escola Massana, thinking that it wouldn't be too difficult to make a living as an illustrator. Up until then he had been fortunate enough to sell some paintings to help him pay off his degree.

       In la Massana, Ginard realized that he had internalized many of the preconceptions that he had sensed in Fine Arts regarding the limits of art. It was thanks to teachers like Arnald Ballester that he soon recognized that illustration went far beyond commissioning work or a subsistence job. He also realized that illustration could include everything he liked about the art world. In addition to his academic discoveries, in these early years of the XXIst century through school he met Laura Ginès (Girona, 1975). Like himself she came from a background seemingly unrelated to illustration, architecture. The chemistry between the two, which years later resulted in the birth of their son Lluc, led them to launch the creation microfactory Laboratorium.

       These were the times when animation was gaining track in Barcelona. The Macba presented the work of the socially conscious Southafrican artist William Kentridge, allowing many young artists to discover that not all animation was Dragon Ball. The new creators, who incorporated digital technology into their work thanks to cheaper consumer electronics, also found that their work was barred from the art market. This circumstance in turn gave them complete freedom to develop their work. One of Laboratorium's first creations was the animation for Música para perplejos (2002), a short that consists of small fragments of classical and orchestral music from the XIXth and XXth centuries that mixes different animation techniques. Sound is transformed into image depicting surrealist situations in a metaphysical atmosphere.

       Il Gioco (2001) is a more strictly metaphysical animated short that is based on Giorgio de Chirico's painting Misterio y melancolía de una calle from 1914 and lasts little over a minute and a half. With this work Ginard and Ginés came into contact with Barcelona's creative animation festival Xinacittà, a grounbreaking project whose purpose was to expose the little known world of artistic animation. The festival was founded in 2001 and was celebrated yearly until 2007, except for an interruption in 2006. Thanks to Xinacittà, what had earlier been an intuitive work at Laboratorium acquired conceptual shape with the discovery of animation's contemporary, historical context.

       As in any creative microsociety, in Labratorium individual energies benefit from the collective dynamics. "In fact", says Laura Ginès, "Música para perplejos was my school project, but we signed it jointly because it belongs to the sphere of our common creation." Similarly, Pere Ginard has published several illustrated books that blur the limits between commissioned and creative work: "It is not we who put a wall between what might be substenance work and what not." Among the works signed by Ginard are Libro de lágrimas (Anaya, 2002); Prometeu, with text by Albert Jané (Combel, 2007);  La Laia i el vent, by Nathalie Pons (Bambé, 2007) and Niños pequeños (Thule, 2008), in addition to self-edited books.

       Labortorium does profesional work for both television and film. It has done the commercial spots for the latest four editions of the independent film festival L'Alternativa that takes place in Barcelona. In the professional sphere they have also worked for Mediapro doing graphic work for television, including the animations, opening sequences, commercial bumpers and graphical elements that intervene in a program.

Autumn – Winter (October 2008 – March 2009)