The latest activation of Los Caños

A full-scale lorry to track the trail of cement between Los Santos de Maimona and Alconera

In April, the Mal Platform held what, for the time being, has been the last excursion of The pipes, Francesc Ruiz's expanded comic work, conceived within the framework of the concart Non plus ultra, mediated by Jose Iglesias García-Arenal.

The day's events offered a journey across the territory between Los Santos de Maimona and Alconera, following the trail of cement and looking at the infrastructures, materials and forms of circulation that shape this landscape.

The starting point was an abandoned petrol station that had been intervened in October with a vinyl installation by Francesc Ruiz. On this occasion, the space functioned as a meeting place and observation point from which to approach the different elements that articulate the territory: the cement production facilities, the solar panels, the aggregates and the roads, among others. There, [it/he/she] joined the tour The Female Messenger, a 1:1 scale printed pickup truck that accompanied the group throughout the excursion.

The second stop took place at the Brovales reservoir, built with cement from the same cement works and linked to the Badajoz Plan. Next to the reservoir, the unfolded structure of the truck served as a space for a collective picnic, integrating the artistic intervention into the landscape itself.

The tour continued to the village of Brovales, running parallel to the old irrigation channels. The day concluded at Bar Pepa, where the final animation piece by The pipes. In it, the lorries stop by the side of the road to chat and share a moment of rest, in contrast with the constant flow of goods crossing the territory.

The excursion thus enabled the final stage of the project to be brought to a close by connecting landscape, infrastructure, mobility and alternative ways of relating to time. Through the journey and its various interventions, The pipes it presents a perspective on the systems that organise the movement of people and goods and on the everyday spaces where it is still possible to stop, meet and share.

This final phase of production of The pipes it has been made possible thanks to the grants for the creation, research and production of artistic projects in residence from the Ministry of Culture.