Elementary / 2024
Elementary is a video performance filmed in the replica of the Spanish Pavilion, originally reconstructed in 1992 in Barcelona. Now home to the CRAI Biblioteca Pavelló de la República, the library houses an extensive archive on the Spanish Civil War and features a reproduction of Picasso’s Guernica, installed in the courtyard just as it was in the original pavilion at the 1937 Paris International Exposition.
In the video, Lagomarsino quietly sweeps and mops the floor of the pavilion’s yard in front of Guernica, performing a repetitive, almost meditative gesture. This act of endless, cyclical labor becomes a reflection on the weight of historical memory and the continuous effort required to preserve and confront the past. In the rhythmic motions of cleaning, there is an acknowledgment of the deep scars that history has etched into the fabric of our collective memory. The act of cleaning the ground in front of this image can be seen as a preparation, as when the parishes dress their saints with the purple clothing of Easter, because the time has come again. If Guernica is denouncing the atrocity of war, the effort to cleanse, to wipe away the dirt and grime, highlights the impossibility of erasing the past, there are no stains that can be scrubbed away. The image haunts us and should haunt us.