Brindis Animista
The many incarnations of a ritual -
A distillation of ashes and sea water, a verbena, sage, lavender, thyme, rosemary, and artemisa elixir, a toast to cycles, to fragility and impermanence to transformation
What are ashes? They are what the fire left us: alkaline, fertilizing, and purifying. Evidence that nothing ends, it only transforms—life is a ray of light that passes through everything.
Brindis Animista explores two versions of the same ritual and connects them through a distillation, an extraction of matter, a metamorphosis. The Night of San Juan is an example of syncretism and how traditions transmute over time, layering multiple meanings. We approach these ancestral gestures, which today are cultural traditions, through the steam distillation of the ashes from San Juan bonfires with water from the Mediterranean Sea. The distillation process extracts the aromatic molecules of the materials, capturing their intangible essence, revealing aspects that transcend their immediate physical properties.
The Convent dels Àngels, formerly an underground crypt, becomes the stage for this transformation. The work unites two traditions from the Night of San Juan: the bonfires and the burning of herbs in Barcelona, and the ritual baths in the sea practiced in Puerto Rico on the same date. Distilling the ashes with seawater produces an aroma that encapsulates both practices, like a photograph without an image, an invisible essence. The ashes, as remnants of combustion, demonstrate the transformation of matter, acting as fertilizers that enable continuity and fertilize the future. The seawater, the origin of life, speaks to us of purification, of passages and connection between territories and shared tradition. Both fire and water, opposing elements, share the symbolic function of purification. Through distillation, we extract a perfumed liquid that synthesizes their aromatic profiles and reveals their symbolic essence.
Brindis Animista also takes the form of a fountain, an offering to visitors made with water from the Font de Santa Anna, famous for its healing properties, infused with the herbs of San Juan. This oasis in the crypt subverts the original intent of the space, as one of perpetual rest and death, exploring beliefs in healing and folk medicine. The herbs used, known for their healing and protective properties, infuse the water and scent the space of the crypt. The humidity, the steam, the smells of the herbs, and the ashes intertwine, inviting us to discuss the metamorphosis of matter as a unifying process of the earthly body.
This performance took place on 28.06.2024 at the Cripta del MACBA as part of the program INVOCACIONS.
The many incarnations of a ritual -
A distillation of ashes and sea water, a verbena, sage, lavender, thyme, rosemary, and artemisa elixir, a toast to cycles, to fragility and impermanence to transformation
What are ashes? They are what the fire left us: alkaline, fertilizing, and purifying. Evidence that nothing ends, it only transforms—life is a ray of light that passes through everything.
Brindis Animista explores two versions of the same ritual and connects them through a distillation, an extraction of matter, a metamorphosis. The Night of San Juan is an example of syncretism and how traditions transmute over time, layering multiple meanings. We approach these ancestral gestures, which today are cultural traditions, through the steam distillation of the ashes from San Juan bonfires with water from the Mediterranean Sea. The distillation process extracts the aromatic molecules of the materials, capturing their intangible essence, revealing aspects that transcend their immediate physical properties.
The Convent dels Àngels, formerly an underground crypt, becomes the stage for this transformation. The work unites two traditions from the Night of San Juan: the bonfires and the burning of herbs in Barcelona, and the ritual baths in the sea practiced in Puerto Rico on the same date. Distilling the ashes with seawater produces an aroma that encapsulates both practices, like a photograph without an image, an invisible essence. The ashes, as remnants of combustion, demonstrate the transformation of matter, acting as fertilizers that enable continuity and fertilize the future. The seawater, the origin of life, speaks to us of purification, of passages and connection between territories and shared tradition. Both fire and water, opposing elements, share the symbolic function of purification. Through distillation, we extract a perfumed liquid that synthesizes their aromatic profiles and reveals their symbolic essence.
Brindis Animista also takes the form of a fountain, an offering to visitors made with water from the Font de Santa Anna, famous for its healing properties, infused with the herbs of San Juan. This oasis in the crypt subverts the original intent of the space, as one of perpetual rest and death, exploring beliefs in healing and folk medicine. The herbs used, known for their healing and protective properties, infuse the water and scent the space of the crypt. The humidity, the steam, the smells of the herbs, and the ashes intertwine, inviting us to discuss the metamorphosis of matter as a unifying process of the earthly body.
This performance took place on 28.06.2024 at the Cripta del MACBA as part of the program INVOCACIONS.
