alfonso batalla: a dolphin for damien

‘a dolphin for damien’ as part of the ‘landscape under construction’ series by alfonso batalla

spanish artist alfonso batalla has re-interpreted the famous damien hirst work ‘the physical impossibility of death in the mind of someone living’ with his own piece entitled ‘a dolphin for damien’. the artwork is part of a series by batalla entitled ‘landscape under construction’, where the photographer takes vacant spaces and fills them with life – whether it be a carousel in an abandoned paper factory; a pinball machine in an old coal mine or a displaced polished plastic water toy – the decaying architecture is intelligently transformed. the sculptures probe the audience to reassess the idea of the present and past, often referencing familial childhood objects, which inevitably then become the key intellectual protagonists of each composition.

the artist says of the philosophy behind his work:

‘the dolphin is just one of the many actors of my ‘landscape under construction’ series. in this work a new, ordinary, shiny element many times related to our childhood is digitally inserted in a powerful decaying architectural environment. this has something to do with hegel/heideger philosophical concepts. in a simple explication we, human beings, live usually in a ‘being there’ status. we are happy, or sad, with our jobs, properties, family…from time to time we feel a kind of distress, anguish, and we start to realize what we are. we might call this condition ‘being oneself’.

in this work, decaying architecture represents the truth about ourselves while the intruding element, be it the dolphin, merry go round, car, sofa, pinball or whatever, represents what we see of reality when we are just being there. both true reality and beauty are in the decay. curiously, this work has its own life. nowadays, with the deep recession that isolates mostly southern europe I am starting to see that the dolphin is more real and the abandoned building more fake, so possibly the world is not so bad as we see it now.’

the abandoned space to become the home for the ‘a dolphin for damien’ piece

the decaying factory

‘stranded’

‘throne room’, situated in an old nuclear plant

‘merry go round’ in a secluded paper factory

‘finally god doesn’t play dice’ work is situated in an old coal mine invaded by grass

‘a pool for itoh’