'A Plor de Pell'
There is a Catalan expression, ‘a flor de pell’, which would literally translate as ‘skin in bloom’. Figuratively, one uses this expression to describe the state of being overwhelmed by emotions that can barely be contained within one’s own body. In Catalan language, only one letter separates the word flower/bloom ‘flor’ from the word cry, ‘plor’. So this project, named ‘A plor de pell’, is a play of words that could translate as ‘The skin weeps’. Crying is an action that can take place in many a situations; it can be triggered by a moment of sadness, anger or happiness. In spite of this, it is most uncommon to see people cry in public spaces. This project seeks to hold a space for this feeling by creating different artistic interventions that enable us to raise awareness on this genuine emotion. To enable us to achieve this, we’ve been gathering photographs of people crying. The first action consisted in hanging these printed images outside our balconies and up in our rooftops – spaces that belong to our homes yet are visible to other neighbours from our communities or to any passer-by. Barcelona is dotted with narrow streets and tall apartment buildings, many of which count with balconies with clothing lines to hang the laundry. There was something about taking these intimate portraits outwards in such a quotidian manner that moved us in this direction, placing them in a space that pends between public and private. In time, we realised that by allowing meteorology to organically modify and weather the prints, they evolved in the same way as we evolve in face of the changes that the world experiences. During this quarantine I received many pictures of people’s cries – may this project also serve as an indicator of the social cry? May we seek to dignify the action of crying by collectivising something that has been challenged to only exist in the personal and private sphere? We are all living, sentient human beings after all; and by recognising the wisdom of our own bodies’ healing mechanisms, we can fight the stigma that condemns individuals for expressing their vulnerability.
If you want to participate, you can send your photos to @clàudia serrahima and help this project grow =) #aplordepell