LIST OF HEIRS AND INHERITED OBJECTS
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo and Diego Martínez Alonso
Diego Martínez Alonso
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo and Diego Martínez Alonso
Diego Martínez Alonso
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo
Diego Martínez Alonso
Maria Hajek
Victoria Martínez Diez
Maria Hajek
Diego Martínez Alonso
Iván Seoane Alonso
Francisco Javier Alonso Izquierdo
Diego Martínez Alonso
Diego Martínez Alonso
Diego Martínez Alonso
Fernando Peña Olalla
Diego Martínez Alonso
Diego Martínez Alonso
Hurones Town Hall
Hugo Vicario García
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo and Diego Martínez Alonso
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo
Mercedes Martínez Diez
Diego Martínez Alonso
Fátima Castaño Risco
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo and Diego Martínez Alonso
Hurones Town Hall
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo and Diego Martínez Alonso
Martí Guillem Císcar
Juan Patiño Herraiz
Liam Trischler
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo
Diego Martínez Alonso
Diego Martínez Alonso
Hurones Town Hall
Iván Seoane Alonso
Diego Martínez Alonso
Pablo Lavín Pérez
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo and Diego Martínez Alonso
Rosa Gil Saiz
Mercedes Martínez Diez
Sven Baumann
Museum der Dinge
Martí Guillem Císcar
Johnny Argüelles Diego
Rodrigo Angulo Peña, Israel Carrasco Barcenilla, Roberto Peciña Martín, Esteban Ramos Berezo, Iván Ramos Palomero and Álvaro Ramos Palomero
001. A Photograph of My Mother
002. A Photograph of My Father
003. A Photograph of My Brother
004. A Childhood Photograph
005. A Blanket
006. Two Handkerchiefs
007. A Toy Car
008. A Pair of Trainers
009. Eight Shorts
010. A Backpack
011. A Toy Gun
012. A Sleeping Bag
013. CAT n MOUSE’s Nintendo Play & Game
014. Three Summer Shirts
015. Dubhe Alpha and Leo
016. A Photograph of My Brother
017. A Toy Car
018. A Tennis Ball
019. Replica of My Father’s Nissan Patrol
020. A Receipt from the Waste Disposal Service
021. A Ball
022. A Broken Floor Tile
023. A Radio
024. A Purse
025. A Toy Tractor
026. A Pencil Sharpener with a Plane Shape
027. A Pair of Jelly Shoes
028. A Photograph in Hurones
029. Three Candles
030. A Flute
031. A Sancheski Skateboard
032. A Pair of Fisher-Price Binoculars
033. A Tetra Brik Carton
034. A Taekwondo Dobok
035. Six T-Shirts
036. A Vinyl Record: ‘In the Army Now,’ by Status Quo
037. A Pouch Full of Marbles
038. A Gameboy
039. A Whipping Top
040. A Curro Pin
041. A Telephone
042. A Deck of Cards
043. A Canteen
044. A Pager
045. A Walkman
046. A Watch
047. A Photograph of ‘el Maika’
Santiago Ahedo Echevarría and Johnny Argüelles Diego
Rodrigo Angulo Peña
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo
Diego Martínez Alonso
Victoria Martínez Diez
José Vallejo Urbaneja
Fátima Castaño Risco
Álvaro Ramos Palomero and Diego Martínez Alonso
Mónica Turiso Arenas
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo
Mónica Turiso Arenas
Raúl Castroviejo Espinosa, Hugo Vicario García and Diego Martínez Alonso
Mónica Turiso Arenas
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo
Laura Masa Merino
Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo
Mario Simón Maruenda
Mario Simón Maruenda
Stella Drygiannaki
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo Casi Baile
Iván Cristóbal Barriocanal
Miguel Pelluch Llavela, Juan Manuel Salvador
Monteagudo and Mario Simón Maruenda
Alejandro Conde Almendres, Raúl Fernández
Valdivielso, Roberto Gutiérrez Quintano, Adriana Meléndez Martínez, Javier Quijano
González and Jens Altmann
Österreichisches Filmmuseum
Esther Rizo Casado
Fátima Castaño Risco
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo
Fátima Castaño Risco
Mario Simón Maruenda and Álvaro Terrones Reigada
Marcus Franze
Juan Manuel Salvador Monteagudo
Mario Simón Maruenda
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo
Anarel·la Martínez Madrid
Christoph Thienhaus
Irene Pascual Molinas
Sabina Cabello Villarejo
María Campos Gisbert
048. A Motorbike
049. Inline Skates
050. A CD: ‘Flowerz’, by Armand van Helden
051. A Film Camera
052. A Coffee Grinder
053. A Campos de Castilla’s T-Shirt, a Pair of Shorts and a Pair of Athletic Shoes
054. Watercolor Palette Box
055. A Photograph in Burgos
056. A Photograph of Mónica
057. My Father’s Payslips
058. A FIB 2002 T-Shirt
059. A Photograph in Ferroli
060. A DVD: The Work of Director Michel Gondry
061. An Alarm Clock
062. 23 Letters from My Mother
063. A Duvet Cover
064. An iBook G4 Laptop
065. A Volkswagen Polo GT Key
066. The Observatori Festival Uniform
067. A Reflective Vest
068. A Photograph of Teemo and Stella
069. A Dymo Machine
070. A MIDI Controller
071. 26 Polyester Teeth
072. A Photograph with Miguel, Mario and Juanma
073. A Roll of Film
074. 48 Films in Super 8
075. A Polaroid SX 70 Photo Camera
076. The Kerchief Fátima Wore in Cologne
077. 2,236 Slides
078. A USB Drive with 23 Screenshots
079. A Fine Receipt
080. A Dutch Bike
081. Three Films in Super 8: Tit Friction, Busen and Sex Clinic
082. A Jar with Sand from Halle
083. My Grandfather’s Shirt
084. A T-Shirt
085. Two Pieces of Coal
086. A GlogauAIR Catalog
087. One World Map
088. Sewing Kit
Anarel·la Martínez Madrid
José Moñú Soria
Matthias Hajek and Blanca Santa-María Mejía
Sven Baumann
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo
Frank Schneider and Mia Martelli
Diego Martínez Alonso
Maite Bueno Clemente
María Campos Gisbert
Jara López Ballonga
Diego Martínez Alonso
Corinna Heidepriem
Hotel Meliá in Berlin
Ada Margot Prete
Diego Martínez Alonso
Sven Baumann
Diego Martínez Alonso
Diego Martínez Alonso
Sven Baumann, María Campos Gisbert, María Gonzalvo Gómez, Martí Guillem Císcar, Jara López Ballonga, Manuel Mansergas Monte, Anarel·la Martínez Madrid, Begoña Martínez Santiago, Carlos Pedrón Rico, Blanca Santa-María Mejía and Mireia Vila Soriano
Maite Bueno Clemente, Alba Gador Díaz Navarro, Esther Rizo Casado and Julia Maja Mittwoch
Diego Martínez Alonso
Art O’Connor
Raina Gielge
Clara Trischler
Clara Trischler
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo
Clara Trischler
089. A Photograph with the Kids from Lomianki
090. A Cap
091. A Padlock
092. Fabric from Kenya 093. A Sewing Machine
094. Two Photographs of Frank and Mia
Clara Trischler
Peter Brutschin
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo
Maria Hajek
Clara Trischler
Clara Trischler
Clara Trischler
Various heirs
Sven Baumann
Clara Trischler
Fátima Castaño Risco
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo, Diego Martínez Alonso and Clara Trischler
117. 14 Tin Toys
120. Five Pieces of Slate
121. A Napkin
122. A Backpack
123. 22 Postcards
124. Ten Maps
125. Nine Books
126. A Sea Sponge
127. Six Keys
095. A Notebook
096. A Churro Press
Phone
of Climbing Shoes
Stapler and a Holepunch
A Pair of Shoes
Wooden Stick
Belt Pouch
Damaged Hard Drive
Typewriter
Record Player
097. A Postcard from Sabrina, Oli and Jonny 098. A Skipper Cap 099. A Leather Jacket 100. A Woolen Ball 101. 13 Notes 102. A Fruit from the Congo 103. My Father’s Mobile
104. A Pair
105. A
106.
107. A
108. A
109. A
110. A
111. A
112. A Game of Truth or Dare
113. A Model of the Globe
114. 12 Almonds from My Village
115. A Flyer of a Film I Watched with Clara, a Flyer of an Exhibition I Visited with Clara and A Note from Clara
116. Two Empty Miniature Bottles of Vodka
118. Sea Salt
119. A Cigar
When my aunt Pureza passed away, my family took her things to storage. Buried under dust were many of the things my aunt gathered over decades: dishes, glasses and cutlery; old-fashioned encyclopedias; documents, souvenirs, old photographs, and other objects of little monetary value that were important to my aunt but with which we did not know what to do or to whom to give them.
I found a carton box that read, ‘films.’ Inside, a treasure trove of familiar footage that my aunt filmed in Super 8 format during the 70s and 80s. There was a film that caught my attention in particular, titled 1985 Lourdes and the Kids. My mother, my brother and me appeared in it 24 years ago.
Up to that very moment, I did not know that these existed. For the first time, I saw footage of myself as a child, walking and playing.
074. 48 Films in Super 8
MY GRANDFATHER’S SHIRT, A WOODEN STICK, 12 ALMONDS FROM MY VILLAGE
AND OTHER INCALCULABLY VALUABLE OBJECTS
Heir: Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Location: 42.032722, -3.653902 Quintanilla del Agua
Size: 5 x 3.5 in
1978
001. A Photograph of My Mother
A photograph of my mother in 1978 when she was 18 years old, three years before my brother was born and five years before I was. It was taken at my aunt Pureza’s (my grandfather’s sister) in Quintanilla del Agua, the town in Burgos in which my mother was born.
Heir: Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother) Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Size: 5 x 3.5 in
1978
002. A Photograph of My Father
A photograph of my father while on holidays in 1978. Justino was 22 years old and he had not yet met my mother.
Heir: Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Location:
42.405586, -3.614375
Hurones
Size: 4 x 6 in
1984
Diego was born on the 23rd of September, 1981. Behind the photograph, handwritten:
Diego in Hurones How handsome!
003. A Photograph of My Brother
Heir:
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Location: 42.405700, -3.614320
The courtyard at home
Size: 4 x 6 in
1986
004. A Childhood Photograph
A photograph of me playing in the courtyard of our childhood home. I was three years old. At that time, we lived in Hurones, a small village in the province of Burgos.
I was born in Burgos on the 18th of February,1983.
005. A Blanket
Heir:
Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Location:
42.405645, -3.614415
Calle la Fuente. Hurones
Size: 59 x 20 in
1984 - 1986
Before the village’s streets were paved, my mother took this wool blanket out to the doorstep, where my brother and I used to play.
Heir:
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Mid 80s
006.
Two Handkerchiefs
Before the advent of the mass-produced paper tissue, we used funny cloth handkerchiefs to blow our noses and clean our nostrils. These accumulated, wadded up in our trouser pockets, crusty and brittle by day’s end.
I have kept these two Huckleberry Hound handkerchiefs, complete with bright prints of cartoon Indians.
Heir: Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Mid 80s
An ALPS TOY brand miniature police car with which my brother and I used to play. It is battery operated and, with the help of a hidden mechanical wheel, spins in circles as the siren wails tinnily.
007. A Toy Car
Heir: Maria Hajek (Goddaughter. Matthias Hajek’s daughter, a friend in Berlin)
Size: Size 3.5
Mid 80s
008. A Pair of Trainers
A pair of TAO trainers from my childhood, found seven years ago in the attic of our village home.
Heir: Victoria Martínez Diez, ‘Toya’ (Aunt)
Size: Different sizes
Mid 80s
009. Eight Shorts
My aunt Toya, my father’s sister, used to buy shirts and shorts for my brother which I inherited when they grew too short for him.
010. A Backpack
Heir: Maria Hajek (Goddaughter. Matthias Hajek’s daughter, a friend in Berlin)
Mid 80s
A HAPPY SAMMY backpack that came to school with me when I was four years old. On the inside it is written:
Name: Álvaro Martínez Alonso
Class: 1º Preescolar / Concepcionistas*
Address: Hurones (Burgos)
* ‘Preescolar’ is the Spanish equivalent to ‘Preschool’ or ‘Pre-Kindergarten’ programs in English speaking countries. ‘Concepcionistas’ is a kind of school ruled by the religious order of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady in Spain.
End of the 80s
011. A Toy Gun
Along with MacGyver and The A-Team, Bonanza was one of my father’s absolute favorite series. Every chance we had, my brother and I joined him. At the end of every episode, we proudly hit the streets, brandishing our toy guns.
Heir: Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Heir:
Iván Seoane Alonso (Cousin by blood)
End of the 80s
By the end of the 80s, my parents gave me this sleeping bag. It came with me every time I went camping and it is still in use to this day. On one side, Porsche’s branding. On the other, the album artwork for Faith, George Michael’s debut record.
012. A Sleeping Bag
End of the 80s
013. CAT n MOUSE’s Nintendo Play & Game
CAT n MOUSE was a video game created in 1981 by Nintendo. My uncle Francisco had it, still a teenager at the time. He gave it to my brother, who eventually passed it on to me. Before the proliferation of video game consoles with interchangeable cartridges, almost every kid had at least a couple of these video games. I also had the legendary Donkey Kong, which had two connected screens.
Heir: Francisco Javier Alonso Izquierdo (Uncle)
014. Three Summer Shirts
Heir: Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Size:
Size XS
End of the 80s
Three short-sleeved summer shirts, appearing in many of our childhood photographs at the time. My brother and I had identical matching sets.
End of the 80s
Dubhe Alpha and Leo, two action figures from Bandai’s The Knights of the Zodiac brand.
When Seiya fought rivals and enemies in order to collect ‘the Bronze Cloth of the Pegasus constellation,’ this Japanese cartoon series caught the attention of not only myself and my brother, but also the hearts of many children born in the early 80s.
The Knights of the Zodiac was broadcasted on TV, thematising fantasy, love, action and astrology, premising itself widely on Greek, Egyptian, Nordic and Sumerian mythology.
Other children’s series at the time were Transformers, Captain Tsubasa, Wacky Races, The Flintstones, Once Upon a Time... Life, Fraggle Rock…
015. Dubhe Alpha and Leo
Heir:
Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Heir:
Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Location:
42.409955, -3.615307
Hurones’ Hill
Size:
4 x 6 in
End of the 80s
016. A Photograph of My Brother
Sometimes we would join my father on the tractor and spend the entire day in the countryside. He shifted the gears, but we were allowed to steer. We used to sing ‘Nisio’, a rural song from Los del Páramo (of Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick in the Wall’):
Por la linde de mi finca, va Nisio con su tractor, va pisándome los surcos, no se corta el tío cabrón.
Hey, Nisio, “cagüendios” que voy, Tú no vuelves a pisar mi finca con tu tractor, tú no vuelves a pisar mi finca con tu tractor. No me lleves la contraria, no porfíes “cagüendios”, no me faltes al respeto, como vuelvas se lió.
Hey, Nisio, “cagüendios” que voy, Tú no vuelves a pisar mi finca con tu tractor, tú no vuelves a pisar mi finca con tu tractor.
Casi le mato a pedradas, con la vara le he atizado, le he matado los pichones, de Nisio ya me he vengado.
Hey, Nisio, “cagüendios” que voy, Tú no vuelves a pisar mi finca con tu tractor, tú no vuelves a pisar mi finca con tu tractor.
Heir: Fernando Peña Olalla (Best friend at school)
Location:
42.346683, -3.683988
Conceptionists’ Mothers School
1989
017. A Toy Car
A Majorette brand Pontiac from France, which I stole from my best friend Fernando Peña Olalla after school in 1989. After running under warm water, its color changes from red to white.
Heir: Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Location:
42.033266, -3.651687
My Grandmother Esther’s warehouse
80s and 90s
When we visited, my grandmother Esther used to give us tennis balls as gifts. One for my brother and another for me.
In our family, we were not particularly passionate for tennis and these gifts left my brother and I unmoved. Despite this, a drawer of the cabinet in my grandmother´s foyer was always full of these bright, fuzzy, felted balls.
Grandmother Esther lived next to the village’s frontón in Quintanilla del Agua. Behind her place, she owned an old warehouse with the roof torn off. Young tennis players used to hit the balls so hard that they flew over the wall of the frontón, ending up on my grandmother’s property. She may have not checked often, but when she did, she always found plenty of tennis balls just like this one.
018. A Tennis Ball
019. Replica of My Father’s Nissan Patrol
Living in a Spanish village in the 80s with less than 50 inhabitants was sometimes comparable to living on an island. Even though there were no shops in Hurones, bakers and fruit vendors used to come by two or three times a week. Every now and again, so did the ironmonger. In winter, we were four kids: Angelberto, his brother David, my brother Diego, and myself. There was neither a school nor a doctor. In summer there were water shortages due to drought and in winter many inhabitants were isolated by snowfall.
We went everywhere in my father’s Nissan Patrol, whose four-wheel drive was an absolute necessity. We could drive through snow or even flooded streets. When we moved to the city, my father sold it in order to get a new one.
Heir: Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
80s and 90s
020. A Receipt from the Waste Disposal Service
Heir: Hurones Town Hall
Location: 42.405311, -3.612912
Garbage dump in Hurones
80s and 90s
My mother ordered either my brother or myself to take out the trash right after eating. At that time, there were no recycling containers. We had to walk five minutes to the dump, a big black hole next to the cemetery in which every villager left their garbage.
021. A Ball
Heir: Hugo Vicario García
(A friend with passion for football)
Location:
42.328187, -3.698071
My uncle’s swimming pool
1990
A ball that ended up in my uncle’s swimming pool on Christmas Day. When I tried to rescue it, I hit my head on the stairs.
Six stitches later, I was left with a scar on my forehead which is accentuated by extreme temperatures.
Heir:
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Location:
42.405645, -3.614415
Our home in Hurones
Near 1990
022. A Broken Floor Tile
We had never tried coconut until my father brought one home after work for the four of us. My brother and I were young and unable to open it. Brawn over brains, my father managed to open the coconut but also managed to break the piece of tile on which he placed it.
Heir: Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Location:
42.405645, -3.614415 The garage in Hurones
Near 1990
023. A Radio
A radio that tunes in to AM, FM and TV. As a punishment for bad table manners, my father would revoke access to the television. I would go to the garage in secret and tune in to TVE1 at 3:30 pm to ‘watch’ cartoons. The device did not have a screen but I would listen to Calimero, the series on at that time.
Heir: Mercedes Martínez Diez (Merche) (Aunt)
Location:
43.325857, -1.976155
Zurriola Beach
Near 1990
024. A Purse
A Wind Surf brand plastic coin purse that I always brought with me to the beach. In white letters it is written: ‘Benidorm’.
Even though my father could not swim, sometimes we used to go to the beach in San Sebastián, where my aunt Merche lives.
I was seven years old when a wave took me by surprise; I rolled and flipped over so violently that I wound up dizzy and disoriented. My father picked me up on the seashore and carried me to our towels. The purse was still hanging on my neck.
Near 1990
025. A Toy Tractor
A RICO ESPAÑA brand Sansón tractor made of tin and plastic with which I used to play in Hurones.
Heir: Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
026. A Pencil Sharpener with a Plane Shape
Heir: Fátima Castaño Risco (Artist friend)
Near 1990
Dinosaurs for breakfast and alphabet soup for dinner. Cars, flowers and helicopters as erasers. A piggybank for your savings. As kids, everything had a funny shape. I had a plane that sharpened pencils.
Heir:
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Location:
42.030626, -3.651145
Arlanza’s riverbank
Size: Size 2.5
Near 1990
027. A Pair of Jelly Shoes
We walked along the riverbank searching for crayfishes. We dove into the water from the branches of the trees and swam with the help of broken trunks.
We regularly bathed in the same exact spot. We left our grandmother’s place with our jelly shoes on and crossed the street to reach our grandfather’s farm. Behind the farm ran the Arlanza river, in which my mother, my brother and I learned how to swim.
Heir:
Hurones Town Hall
Location:
42.405600, -3.614415
Hurones
Size: 4 x 5.7 in Near 1990
A photograph in Hurones with our bikes. From right to left: Roberto, David, my brother Diego, my cousin Maria and myself.
In June, the holiday season starts and more children would come to the village. We would spend the whole summer with them: Sergio from Bilbao, Antonio’s son (also called Sergio), Roberto, Rodrigo, Javi and Jesuín, among others.
We would take a sandwich and something to drink and cycle to the closest villages, usually Riocerezo, Villayerno, Celada or Cótar. Even though these were always less than four miles away, these were adventures that took all day long. Afterwards, we would play different games by the church like el bote or la cadeneta.
028. A Photograph in Hurones
029. Three Candles
Heir:
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Location:
42.405651, -3.614400
Our home in Hurones
Near 1990
In Hurones we lived in a modest house with a very small kitchen and living room. We had no telephone, no heating nor any other commodities. Even though we moved to Burgos in 1992, we keep the house to this day.
I do not remember how old I was turning, but I remember it was a grey and stormy weekday. The village’s streets were flooded, the electricity was out and my father was working, so I celebrated my birthday on the 18th of February in the kitchen with my brother and my mother. After lunch, my mother left the kitchen. The flickering glow in the otherwise dark room meant it was time to blow out the candles. My mother returned, singing with my brother and placed the cake on the table in front of me.
It was pink and violet. One could read (in big chocolate letters): Happy Valentine’s Day.
030. A Flute
A flute made of wood with a plastic mouthpiece. In the second grade I passed the remedial exam, not because I played particularly well, but because I was the only student in attendance.
Heir: Martí Guillem Císcar (Musician friend)
1991
Heir: Juan Patiño Herraiz (Skater friend)
Location:
42.406017, -3.613728
A slope in Hurones
Near 1991
031. A Sancheski Skateboard
Sancheski was the most famous skateboard brand in Spain. Even though my brother and I owned one, we never learned how to skate because the streets in Hurones were always covered in loose soil and stones that the tractors scattered and left behind. Nevertheless, we climbed the steepest slope in the village on which there was less debris and fewer obstacles, and launched ourselves downhill, quickly sitting down on the board and slowing ourselves as we went with our bare hands.
032. A Pair of Fisher-Price Binoculars
Heir: Liam Trischler (Clara Trischler’s nephew)
Location:
42.405642, -3.613230 The tree hut
Beginning of the 90s
A pair of dark blue and yellow Fisher Price binoculars that we used to use to watch anyone approaching the tree house that we built in the crook of a tree in Hurones. There was not very much space, barely big enough for three or four children, but it was our first ‘property’ in the village.
Beginning of the 90s
When I was eight or nine years old I would jam an empty milk carton in the fork of my bike, against the front wheel because this simulated the sound of a motorbike. I gripped the ‘throttle’ and roared past our front door.
Every time my father saw me he said to my mother, ‘Look, he is already monkeying around!’
Heir:
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
033. A Tetra Brik Carton
Heir: Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Size:
Size S
Beginning of the 90s
My mother suggested that we enroll in an extracurricular activity after school. My brother had started to draw on his own and wanted to attend a drawing course. I was younger, and for me going to drawing classes seemed like extra coursework. For this reason (and the likely influence of The Knights of the Zodiac) I opted for taekwondo lessons. Taekwondo and drawing class had different timetables and my mother decided that we should both take the same course.
The first year we went to taekwondo and the second we drew. My memories of the former mostly include being hit repeatedly and, on more than one occasion, ending up in tears.
Learning how to draw was a much more pleasant experience.
034. A Taekwondo Dobok
035. Six T-Shirts
Heir:
Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Size:
Size XS
Beginning of the 90s
Six t-shirts with motifs from Egypt, Cuba, Mexico, Finland, the Canary Islands and Munich. Uncle Jerónimo and Aunt Carmen had several chicken farms in the 70s and 80s. What began as a humble family business became a large, successful company. I never discovered if this was simply an elaborate excuse to travel, but my uncles toured the world attending conferences and international avicultural fairs. Every time they returned from their travels, they brought us a t-shirt.
Heir:
Hurones Town Hall
Location:
42.405573, -3.614294
Calle la Fuente. Hurones
Beginning of the 90s
036. A Vinyl Record: ‘In the Army Now,’ by Status Quo
In front of our home, an aging SEAT 600 was left to the elements for many years. We, the children in the village, would get into the car and pretended to drive along.
All together, in unison, and without understanding a single word in English, we shouted lyrics to an 80s hit that was constantly on the radio: ‘Oh-uu-oh yuli meow meoooooow,’ our informal rendition of ‘In The Army Now,’ by Status Quo. In fact, the lyrics were, ‘Oh-oo-oh you’re in the army now.’
Some years later, I bought the record on vinyl.
Heir:
Iván Seoane Alonso (Cousin by blood)
Location:
42.346354, -3.684941
Conceptionists’ Mothers School
Beginning of the 90s
A pouch with 42 marbles, hand sewn by my mother from the leftovers of a bed sheet.
At school we all had marbles. Blue, red, green, flecked, matte or transparent, big or small, but always made of crystal.
At the factory, when my father changed out a bearing from one of the machines he repaired, he would keep the inner ball bearings for me. These bolstered my marble collection and were bigger, louder and better to play with, impressing my friends.
037. A Pouch Full of Marbles
Heir: Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Location:
42.032663, -3.651581
Grandmother Esther’s vegetable garden
Beginning of the 90s
038. A Gameboy
My grandmother used many things to shoo birds away from our fruit trees and the vegetable garden. From the trees hung CDs, mirrors, bits of plastic, robes and other objects, including a Gameboy. When my brother and I found the Gameboy hanging from a plum tree, it had batteries and a cartridge inside and it even worked.
Pablo Lavín Pérez
Location:
42.346059, -3.684870
Conceptionists’ Mothers School
Beginning of the 90s
039. A Whipping Top
There were two basic approaches to launch the whipping top: the first involved throwing the top like a Frisbee, with the point facing downwards; the second method was much the same, but with the point facing upwards.
I invented a third style, as if it were a spear. My final launch was at school, where I wanted to demonstrate my new technique.
I took the top, pin facing upwards, and I launched it with Olympian enthusiasm. Unfortunately it was headed straight for my friend Álvar Lavin Perez’s brother’s head.
My father made me whipping tops of different shapes and sizes, with different pins and out of different woods with the lathe at the factory.
Heir:
(The brother of a friend of mine)
040. A Curro Pin
Heir:
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Location: 37.408214, -6.000106
Expo ‘92
1992
Two big events took place in 1992 in Spain: the Olympics in Barcelona and the Universal Exposition in Seville. My parents, my brother and I went to Seville during our summer holidays.
I was just nine years old, coming from a small village of 50 inhabitants. Everything was completely and totally new to me; in fact, it was new for all four of us. It was the first time we traveled by plane (from Madrid to Seville) and our first time trying pizza.
Curro
was the Expo ‘92 mascot, a bird with elephant legs and a multicolored crest and beak.
Location:
42.406428, -3.614223
The old bar in Hurones
1992
041. A Telephone
My father worked as a mechanic for 26 years at Grafibur (Gráficas Burgos), which was a printing factory responsible for the Yellow Pages for all of Spain, as well as select newspapers run by the national press.
Since it was a factory which produced newspapers daily, the maintenance staff had to be constantly available in case of any potential technological failures. Therefore, my father and his colleagues often worked in excess of 40 hours a week.
In Hurones, we did not have a telephone. When there was a problem at the factory, they would ring the bar’s telephone, being located at the highest point of the village. Rosa, the waitress, would call him to the bar and he went up the hill to talk to his boss. He would return home only to go yet again to work. When we moved to Burgos in 1992, my father bought a telephone but did not want to give the number to his boss.
Heir: Rosa Gil Saiz
(Former waitress in Hurones)
042. A Deck of Cards
Heir:
Mercedes Martínez Diez (Merche) (Aunt)
Location:
42.345007, -3.690514
Calle Briviesca, Burgos
Mid of the 90s
A Spanish deck of Fournier brand cards we played with when we spent Christmas at my paternal grandparents’ home in Calle Briviesca, in Burgos. We used to play brisque after dinner. On the table there was always a bottle of herbal liquor or whiskey for the grownups and bottle of KAS Orange for the little ones.
Along with my grandparents, there was often also my aunt Merche, my aunt Toya, my uncle Miguel, my cousin María, my parents, my brother and myself. My uncle Ismael, my aunt Teodora and my uncle Esteban would also join us from time to time.
The living room was quite small for so much hustle and bustle; debates about politics mixed together with jokes and laughter. The children would turn up the TV volume and try to listen to the traditional Christmas broadcasting on the Spanish public television channel.
043. A Canteen
Heir: Sven Baumann (Friend in Berlin, traveler)
Location:
42.938031, -6.339361
Villablino’s camps
Mid of the 90s
I took this canteen with me when my parents sent me to summer camp. It was organized by the Council of Castile-León in Villablino, a mining village north of León.
These were multi-adventure camps that had us practice rafting, climbing, trekking and other mountain sports. Even so, the true thrill of this experience was that it allowed me my first taste of independence.
This was a new technology and allowed us to call a number and dictate a message to the telephonist. You would give the number you wanted to send it to. Pablo, Laura or Roberto would then receive it immediately.
Coca-Cola ran a promotion giving away pagers, so some of my friends and I got one. Pagers received messages but could not send them. It was 1997 and mobile phones were not a common thing.
Heir: Museum der Dinge (Museum of Things,
1997
044. A Pager
Berlin)
045. A Walkman
‘Bailando,’ by Paradisio; ‘Freed From Desire,’ by Gala; ‘Uh La La La,’ by Alexia or ‘Encore Une Fois,’ by Sash! were some of the songs on a cassette compilation I constantly listened to in 1997, when I rarely left the house without my Walkman.
Heir: Martí
1997
Guillem Císcar (Musician friend)
046. A Watch
A Casio brand wrist watch with remote control functionality. I would use this to mischievously change the channel while we were watching a film in high school, or prank patrons watching La Liga in a bar as their favorite team went in for a goal.
Heir: Johnny Argüelles Diego (Friend from high school) 1998
Heir:
Rodrigo Angulo Peña
Israel Carrasco Barcenilla
Roberto Peciña Martín
Esteban Ramos Berezo
Álvaro Ramos Palomero
Iván Ramos Palomero
(Boyhood friends)
Location:
42.329194, -3.699974
Parque Europa
Size:
3.5 x 2.4 in 1998
A photograph of Raúl, also known as ‘el Maika,’ a boyhood friend who died of leukemia at 17. Our whole group of friends used to meet at Parque Europa, located in the outskirts of Burgos, where some of us lived and met after class or over weekends to spend countless hours making trouble.
047. A Photograph of ‘el Maika’
048. A Motorbike
Heir:
Santiago Ahedo Echevarría
Johnny Argüelles Diego (Friends from high school)
Location:
42.330731, -3.703483
Burgos motocross circuit
1999
In 1999, when I was 16 years old, I finished a summer job working for a construction company. I spent my initial savings on a secondhand motorbike. I paid 110,000 pesetas (around 660 euros) for a Rieju Drac of 50 cubic centimeters with five gears that could reach up to 50 miles per hour.
Very often after school Santi, Johnny and I took our motorbikes to the motocross circuit next to the high school. On the weekends we would leave the city and drive until we ran out of petrol.
049. Inline Skates
Heir: Rodrigo Angulo Peña (Boyhood friend)
Location:
42.327534, -3.699710
‘la chicane’
Size: Size 8.5 1999
A pair of K2 inline skates that I was wearing when I fought with Rodrigo Angulo in ‘la chicane,’ a passage next to my home where we hid from the wind in winter and passed time. Rodrigo was three years older and weighed 44 pounds more than me but when he called me a ‘son of a bitch,’ I disregarded being at a disadvantage. I landed quite a few hard punches and then, as our friends separated us, a swinging fist met my eye. That night Rodrigo and his father knocked on our front door. My mother and I, complete with a black eye, met them at the door. His father asked me why I had hit his son. After I explained myself, Rodrigo’s father slapped him across the face, apologized and turned around.
050. A CD: ‘Flowerz’, by Armand van Helden
Heir: Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Location:
42.328247, -3.699401
The flat I was living in with my parents in Burgos
2000
‘Flowerz’ is a song by Armand van Helden, released in 1998. When I was 17, I listened to this on repeat. The repetitive melody and electronic bass irritated my mother, who would come into my room to turn off the mini hi-fi system.
2001
A Fujica STX-1 photo camera with which my father took the family photos that we still treasure today. My uncle Esteban gave it to him by the beginning of the 80s. He paid 25,000 pesetas (150 euros) for it. It has a metal body and a fixed lens of 50 millimeters, with an aperture of f/1.9.
I asked him for it so many times that he ended up giving it to me in 2001.
Heir: Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
051. A Film Camera
2001
052. A Coffee Grinder
My paternal grandparents used this old-fashioned coffee grinder for ages. When they passed away, my aunt Toya placed it on a piece of furniture in her hall as decoration. When she redecorated her flat and noticed my interest, she decided to give it to me. Every morning since, we drink freshly ground coffee at home.
Heir: Victoria Martínez Diez, ‘Toya’ (Aunt)
Heir:
053. A Campos de Castilla’s T-Shirt, a Pair of Shorts and a Pair of Athletic Shoes
José Vallejo Urbaneja
(Campos de Castilla’s coach)
Location:
42.342598, -3.724290
Running tracks in San Amaro
Size:
Size M and no. 8.5
2001
I started running for the Campos de Castilla club when José Vallejo came to train at my school. This was not a unilaterally compelling reason to run, but the fact that boys and girls trained together made this more attractive of an option than football or basketball.
We trained at the running tracks in San Amaro, next to a biscuit factory called Huerta. Training for two hours and smelling the thick, constant, sweet smell of freshly baked sponge cakes was simultaneously strange and delicious. Besides competing in high jump, I ran the 800, 1,500 and 3,000 meters races. Later, club management set more ambitious goals, meaning we trained more hours a day and in smaller groups. It was not fun any more, so along with the changes that come with adolescence, I decided to leave the Campos de Castilla club where I had spent the last six years.
Fátima Castaño Risco (Artist friend)
A Windsor and Newton watercolor palette that I purchased in 2001 when I was studying art restoration.
Heir:
2001
054. Watercolor Palette Box
Heir:
Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Álvaro Ramos Palomero (Boyhood friend)
Location:
42.339298, -3.702708
The photo booth next to Santa María’s bridge
Size:
1.9 x 1.6 in
2001
Patxi, Diego, Jorge, Álvaro and me on the 14th of July of 2001 at 04:00 am, next to Santa María’s bridge. We would have been headed back home after a night out.
055. A Photograph in Burgos
Heir:
Mónica Turiso Arenas (Former girlfriend)
Location:
42.329786, -3.699481
Parque Europa no. 5
Size: 7 x 2 in 2001
056. A Photograph of Mónica
A test strip with a photograph of Mónica that I developed while I was studying art restoration. Every day, when returning from high school, I saw her legs hanging between the iron bars of the balcony. She was new in the district and moved in at number five in Parque Europa. I was living at number ten. Soon after, a friend introduced us and we started to go out together. We saw each other nearly every day. Her parents ran a restaurant and they were always working, so every Saturday and Sunday I woke up early and went to her place in pyjamas and we would spend the whole day together.
Heir: Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Location:
42.360866, -3.656138
Grafibur
2002
057. My Father’s Payslips
In the 80s, Grafibur was one of the most stable factories in Burgos. It belonged to Telefónica, which was a state owned company at that time. Similar to what happened to many other public companies in the 80s and 90s in Spain, Telefónica was privatized and its subsidiary Grafibur was sold. Some years later Grafibur went bankrupt, not being able to face its own expenses. In 2001 and after many strikes, tensions and dismissals, the people responsible for the company decided to shut down. My father was 50 years old, having worked half of his life as a Grafibur employee. He then opened an industrial sharpening workshop, where he worked from Monday through Sunday with few exception.
Heir:
Mónica Turiso Arenas (Former girlfriend)
Location:
40.047879, 0.047474
Benicàssim International Festival
Size: Size M
2002
058. A FIB 2002 T-Shirt
In 2001 we went to the FIB (Benicàssim International Festival) with ‘el Fuentes’ and Rocío. I was 19 years old and Mónica was 21.
We camped there for a week and finally saw artists perform that we had listened to all winter: Radiohead, DJ Shadow, Primal Scream, The Cure, Los Planetas, Muse, Rinöçerôse, Sigur Ros, Four Tet, Air, Chemical Brothers...
One year later, in 2003, Mónica and I split up.
Heir:
Raúl Castroviejo Espinosa
Hugo Vicario García (Friends in Burgos)
Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Location:
42.347349, -3.647629
Ferroli
Size:
3.5 x 4.7 in
2003 - 2005
059. A Photograph in Ferroli
A photograph of Daniel, Hugo, Raúl and my brother Diego, which I took in Ferroli.
My brother and I started to work at the age of 16 in factories such as San Miguel, Vicasa, Mercedes Benz, Campofrío, L´Oréal and Michelin. We had grown up in a labor-centric environment, so standard procedure was to try and pass a course in June to be able to work during the three-month summer break.
Between 2003 and 2005, I was employed by Ferroli, a factory that manufactures aluminum radiators. I had an easy role and could manage it with my studies in winter.
Not everyone was up for working there, so it was easy to find jobs for my friends. Hugo, Nacho, Goku, Fuentes and Castroviejo also worked for Ferroli while studying. Despite the hard work and weekend shifts, being surrounded by friends made it more enjoyable.
Mónica Turiso Arenas (Former girlfriend)
The Work of Director (2003) is a three volume series in DVD format. It compiles music videos done by Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry, all of whom made a difference in the world of alternative musical by the end of the 90s and the beginning of the 21st century.
A second edition was released in 2005 with the works of Mark Romanek, Jonathan Glazer, Anton Corbijn and Stéphane Sednaoui.
Mónica and I used to fall asleep watching video clips of Björk, Massive Attack, Daft Punk, Beck and The White Stripes.
Heir:
2003
060. A DVD: The Work of Director Michel Gondry
Up to 2004
During the years we worked for different factories, my brother and I often woke up at 04:00 am in order to start our shifts at 06:00 am. However, if we had gone out the night before, we were immobilized in bed.
My mother and her sixth sense somehow could always tell if this was the case, and would wake up in order to rouse us. It did not matter how - it was never her sermons but rather her insistence that got us out of bed.
When we returned from work, it was my father’s turn, telling us, ‘You may be keen on going out at night but then you will have to face the music the next day.’
061. An Alarm Clock
Heir:
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
2005
062. 23 Letters from My Mother
23 handwritten letters that my mother sent to me between 2005 and 2016. In 2005, my father and I left home. My parents got divorced and I became independent. Since then, my mother has never stopped writing to me. She shares news about her job, family or Burgos, and she asks me about my life in return. Sometimes the letter comes with a box containing chorizo from Villafuertes, cheese, homemade quince jelly, Valor chocolate, caramelized almonds, walnuts, raisins from my village, clippings of receipts, or other documents that I need from time to time.
Heir:
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
063. A Duvet Cover
Heir:
Laura Masa Merino
(Former girlfriend)
Location:
39.463327, -0.330104
Plaza de la Armada Española
Size:
59 x 78.7 in
2005
A duvet cover that Laura gave to me when I moved to Valencia in 2005 and which I still use to this day. I moved there with only the clothes on my back. I did not have any bed sheets, towels or anything else for my new room in my first shared flat. I lived in El Cabañal, an old fishing district, with Tijl and Ogi, two Erasmus students from Antwerp. Over three months we lived together, they learned to speak Spanish and I learned to cook.
Heir: Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. Spanish Government
2005
064. An iBook G4 Laptop
Thanks to the federal university scholarship program, I was able to study Fine Art from 2005 to 2010 without having to work full time.
After receiving this scholarship, I decided to buy my first laptop, an iBook G4 which I used during my five-year study program.
Heir: Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Location:
39.547062, -1.513779
The viaduct in Contreras
2005
23rd of December, 2005 at 11:00 pm.
I was driving through the viaduct in Contreras between the provinces of Valencia and Cuenca at 75 mi/h and at an altitude of 130 feet. Suddenly, the Polo destabilized and swung from left to right. I crashed against the shoulder of the road and the vehicle rolled, ending in the passing lane. The roof of the car caved in and the door wouldn’t open. In the darkness, cars and trucks barely missed me, driving at high speeds.
Thanks to the assistance of two police officers, I was able to drag my aunt’s Polo from the shoulder and take it to the garage. After sending the car to the scrapyard, they tried to cheer me up and told me not to worry. Apparently the police force had many cars and they would sell me one for a reasonable price.
On the 24th of December, I was celebrating Christmas Eve having dinner with my family.
065. A Volkswagen Polo GT Key
066. The Observatori Festival Uniform
Heir: Mario Simón Maruenda (College friend)
Location:
39.455881, -0.351933 City of Arts and Sciences
Size:
Size L
2005 - 2006
We had just arrived in Valencia and Mario and I worked at Observatori 2005, an innovative music and arts festival where I had my first contact with experimental art. An architect who amplified the vibrations produced by the skyscrapers and a biologist who modified noise from the womb of a pregnant woman were distinct highlights.
We worked as runners for both the 2005 and 2006 editions and we were also responsible for the staging. In the meanwhile we flirted with CocoRosie’s Bianca and danced to the rhythm of Rinôçérôse, Mum, Lali Puna and Funkstörung at the City of Arts and Sciences.
067. A Reflective Vest
Heir: Mario Simón Maruenda (College friend)
Location:
39.480063, -0.344921
Polytechnic University of Valencia
Size:
Size L
2006
Mario and I lived together for three years in Valencia. At 09:00 am we would leave home to go to college. I donned the reflective vest and rode my grandfather’s bike. Mario went by foot.
I would spend two busy hours giving out 2,000 newspapers in different cafeterias and faculties. Sometimes I was even invited out for a coffee or cake during the day. Mario handed out papers at the college entrance. We worked for Auxiple, a subcontracted company under the 20Minutos newspaper. It was not a lot of money but it did not require much effort either. In the evenings we would return to the campus to attend class.
Size: 3.3 x 4.3 in
2007
The academic year had just started but everyone in the faculty already knew Teemo. Even though he rarely spoke, he easily caught everyone’s attention. He was platinum blond and rail thin, with a voice like E.T. He rode to college on a small, pink children’s bike. Teemo aroused our curiosity and brought us closer, and we ended up being friends through his Erasmus year.
Stella was from Crete. Unlike Teemo, she had dark hair, talked a lot and was very loud.
By the end of the academic year, shortly before he was to return to Finland, Teemo suddenly died. Stella stayed in Valencia one more year.
068. A Photograph of Teemo and Stella
Heir: Stella Drygiannaki (College friend)
Heir: Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Location:
42.330250, -3.700107
My mother’s shop
2007
069. A Dymo Machine
Everything was for sale: fruit, dairy products, chicken, cold meat, ice cream, vegetables, drinks, pastries… Every single description and price in my mother’s shop was recorded in this machine. Many days after class I passed by her shop and she prepared me a chorizo sandwich and a brioche. I sat on a chair with my sandwich and observed her customers: my friends’ parents, Romani living near the bridge, our neighbors and some other people from the area. The shop was a meeting point where people would talk and gossip about any and everything going on in the district.
My mother worked from Monday to Friday between 08:00 am and 08:00 pm, with one lunch break; Saturdays and Sundays she opened until 03:00 pm. It was very tough and unprofitable, so after ten years into service she decided to shut in 2007.
A MIDI Controller
Heir:
Casi Baile
(Music band formed by Diego Martínez Alonso and Mario Simón Maruenda)
Location:
39.483098, -0.361541
145 Avenida Primado Reig
2007
A MIDI Evolution controller that accompanied me many nights preparing video screenings.
When I was living on Avenida Primado Reig in Valencia I used to mix old film cuts with electronic music, and I screened these on the wall of my room while enjoying a beer. My repertoire included An Andalusian Dog, by Luis Buñuel; Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis, by Walter Ruttmann; Les Kiriki, by Segundo de Chomón and Fire in Castile, by José Val del Omar.
On Avenida Primado Reig I lived with Diana, Marina, María, Álvaro Jaén and Mario. We all studied arts and turned our flat into a creative lab.
070.
071. 26 Polyester Teeth
Iván is a peculiar type, a good friend and a taxidermist. He lives surrounded by bones, furs and stuffed animals.
In 2007, he came to visit me during the Falles in Valencia. Shortly after he decided to move to the city. During his first week in Valencia he found a good job and a room in a shared flat. It could be said that ‘everything was going like clockwork.’ Just one month later, he was injured by a woman driving her motorbike. His spleen was removed and he had to spend one week in the ICU.
I looked after his dog ‘la Floren’ over the next three weeks. Iván was so grateful that he gave me some polyester teeth he kept as if they were jewelry.
Heir: Iván Cristóbal Barriocanal (Friend in Burgos)
2007
Heir: Miguel Pelluch Llavela
Juan Manuel Salvador Monteagudo
Mario Simón Maruenda
(Friends from college)
Location:
39.484046, -0.344308
Fine Arts faculty in Valencia
Size:
1.58 x 3.9 in 2008
A photograph taken on the 20th of June, 2008 at 04:37 am. From left to right: Miguel, Mario, me and Juanma.
We met on our first year studying Fine Art. Mario came from Elche and he was 27 years old; Miguel was 32 and from Alicante; Juanma, who was 23, was Valencian. We were all studying as a group in the evenings, speaking the Valencian language. We found ourselves alongside designers, architects and engineers, all working in the mornings and had chosen Fine Art as their second degree. There were few students in the evenings. Especially on Fridays, the faculty rooms would be empty. We used to pick up beer and work in the sculpture workshop until very late. Two months after taking this picture I moved to Bilbao and Mario moved to Barcelona; later on, Miguel moved to Paris, and Juanma to Marseille.
072. A Photograph with Miguel, Mario and Juanma
Heir:
Alejandro Conde Almendres
Raúl Fernández Valdivielso
Roberto Gutiérrez Quintano
Adriana Meléndez Martínez
Javier Quijano González, ‘el Seko’
(Friends from Burgos)
Jens Altmann
(Friend from Cologne)
Location:
43.496580, -3.619365
Ajo Beach
2008
A roll, still to be developed, with photographs from a trip to Cantabria with Roberto, Raúl, Alex, ‘el Seko,’ Adriana and Jens in the summer of 2008. We went up to Ajo, which is a village in Cantabria, to spend some time together. Some of us camped and others slept in the van.
At 03:00 am, having drunk an entire bottle of Ruavieja Orujo, we decided to go skinny-dipping. I felt a sudden, vicious and sharp pain and yelped like there were no tomorrow and we all scurried out of the water.
In the sober light of day, this would not have been a problem, but our alcohol-soaked synapses and the intoxicating darkness left us foolhardy, and a jellyfish had stung my crotch.
073. A Roll of Film
2009
When my aunt Pureza passed away, my family took her things to storage. Buried under dust were many of the things my aunt gathered over decades: dishes, glasses and cutlery; old-fashioned encyclopedias; documents, souvenirs, old photographs, and other objects of little monetary value that were important to my aunt but with which we did not know what to do or to whom to give them.
I found a carton box that read ‘films.’ Inside, a treasure trove of familiar footage that my aunt filmed in Super 8 format during the 70s and 80s. There was a film that caught my attention in particular, titled 1985 Lourdes and the Kids. My mother, my brother and me appeared in it 24 years ago.
Up to that very moment, I did not know that these existed. For the first time, I saw footage of myself as a child, walking and playing.
Heir: Österreichisches Filmmuseum (Archive of Amateur Cinema in Super 8 format)
074. 48 Films in Super 8
2009
I met Esther in 2008 as we enjoyed a year of academic exchange at the Basque Country University in Bilbao. When we finished the academic year in 2009, we lost contact for a while but eventually reconnected in Berlin, where we have become close friends.
Esther has been working for some time now as a designer for The Impossible Project, the company that has recovered instant photography after Polaroid decided to stop producing this kind of film.
075. A Polaroid SX 70 Photo Camera
Heir: Esther Rizo Casado (Friend in Bilbao and Berlin)
076. The Kerchief Fátima Wore in Cologne
Heir:
Fátima Castaño Risco (Friend and former girlfriend)
Location:
50.943414, 6.958556
Central station in Cologne
2009
It was supposed to be Fátima’s last day in Cologne. After having spent one week together, we woke up early and had breakfast. We left for the central station (next to the cathedral) from which she was to catch a train to Frankfurt and, there, a flight back to Spain.
As fate would have it, she missed the train and was entirely without a bus connection to make her flight. Fátima was pushing to rent a car, despite the prevalence of German carpooling.
Even though we knew that this flight was nearly impossible to catch, we did rent a car. No GPS, no maps, and no directions. We followed the signs out of city and, upon reaching the highway, found ourselves pummelled by a kind of shockingly intense rain that cannot be imagined before experienced. The car broke down. Even the windshield wipers.
We had been driving circles through the outskirts of Cologne for 40 minutes and the flight was scheduled to leave in 30. At that moment, Fátima’s nervous laugh irritated me deeply. When the car wheezed its way into functionality, we simply returned to enjoy two more days in the city.
077. 2,236 Slides
Heir: Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
2009
Aunt Pureza was a kind of Vivian Maier. Besides shooting films in Super 8 format, she brought photographs and slides with her all throughout her life. She had no further aspirations than photographing her surroundings. She collected different cameras, adapting constantly to technological advances. Even though she had taken thousands of photographs, she never learned how to shoot manually.
Holidays with the family, her husband Fidel, village festivities, the Valencian Falles, the forest, the shepherds or the vineyards all surface as motifs throughout her oeuvre.
A USB memory with 23 screenshots taken as I chatted with Fátima on Skype.
We met in Valencia in 2005. Fátima was from Extremadura, we both studied Fine Art and we spent a great deal of time together. Without noticing, our friendship became more.
I was in Bilbao from 2008, studying with the help of a federal grant, and Fátima stayed in Valencia. In 2009 I moved again, this time to Cologne. Soon after that, she found herself studying in Lisbon. Two months later I was studying in Halle, still in Germany. As we moved further apart, we grew further apart and we decided to split up.
Fátima now lives in Granada. Even though we do not see each other often, we regularly Skype.
Heir: Fátima Castaño Risco (Friend and former girlfriend) 2009
078. A USB Drive with 23 Screenshots
Heir: Mario Simón Maruenda
Álvaro Terrones Reigada (Friends from college)
Location: 51.295135, 9.343279 Highway A44, Fuldabrück
2009
079. A Fine Receipt
Mario and Terrones came to visit me to Cologne in September of 2009. After spending two weeks together, we rented a car in Terrones’ name on the 3rd of October to travel to Halle, where we would spend the next ten months.
Two weeks later, Terrones’ parents told him that a traffic fine had found its way to their home address in Castellón. The total was 1098.58 euros. It seemed to be the case that one of us had been driving 90 mi/h, nearly twice the speed limit. We may have had our suspicions, but the culprit was unknown to us until we received the fine by post. Rife with anticipation, we tore open the envelope and… Bingo! The blurry photograph was not blurry enough to disguise our very own Terrones. When we received the first month of our Erasmus grants, we shared the fine equally.
080. A Dutch Bike
Heir: Marcus Franze (Friend in Halle)
Location:
51.491983, 11.968570
August Bebel Platz 6
2010
After six months in Halle, while attending a punk show at the Hühnermanhattan, the bike I had brought from Cologne was stolen.
At that time, I was living at number six August Bebel Platz, where there were a handful of scattered forgotten bikes. Some of them had broken frames or twisted bottom brackets so they were not really worth repairing.
I managed to forage a rusty Dutch bike missing wheels and a seat, so I started to repair it. I bought a light, pedals and two tires. A friend with whom I studied German, Marcus, gave me the rest of the missing pieces from an old bike of his.
Heir:
081. Three Films in Super 8: Tit Friction, Busen and Sex Clinic
Juan Manuel Salvador Monteagudo
(Friend from college)
Location:
51.478376, 11.978299
Big Apple
2010
Juanma visited Mario, Terrones and me in Halle in February 2010; at that time he lived in Munich. We celebrated my birthday with some other Erasmus students including Rado, a Bulgarian friend who insisted in taking us to a ‘party’ after dinner. Juanma, Mario and I went with him.
Upon arriving we realized quickly that the Big Apple was not any old bar, but rather a striptease club. Euros were to be exchanged with Big Apple Dollars in order to ‘interact.’ In the middle there was a catwalk for the girls to strut and dance. The place was hardly full, sparsely decorated with a couple of mobsters and boys from the neighborhood. Regulars, I guess.
Juanma was like a librarian, completely baffled by the atmosphere, sitting next at the bar. Meanwhile, Mario and I mingled, leaving him to his devices. We paid attention just once: one of the dancers sauntered over to him and pressed her massive breasts against his face. Juanma, speechless, did not know how to respond. She left him entirely bewildered, glasses askew.
Heir: Mario Simón Maruenda (Friend from college)
Location: 51.507482, 11.966041
Chaiselongue
2010
Martin used to take us to the best parties in Halle, either in abandoned spaces or alternative clubs. Mario and I were often accompanied by Jari, Marcus, Tobi, Jule and Flo.
One Sunday morning, we ended up at Chaiselongue, a techno club built out of scraps of wood. There was an outdoor area that was essentially a playground, complete with slides, zip-lines, swings and tree houses.
Mario climbed one of these tree houses as I danced and chatted with people. We heard a snap and a dull thud and whipped around sharply. Mario had fallen 13 feet from the tree, breaking his fall with his jaw on a tree branch. The cut was so clean that we could plainly see his exposed jawbone as it jutted out. He was stunned, telling us he could not feel his back. Naturally, I panicked and immediately called an ambulance. He spent four days at the hospital but it ended up not being so serious. Terrones, who rarely went out, severely told us off.
082. A Jar with Sand from Halle
Heir:
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Size:
Size 42 2010
083. My Grandfather’s Shirt
Grandfather Pepe was a cheerful and active man who liked mingling with people.
On Sundays he went to the ‘social club,’ a dusty basement he shared with his friends in the village. There, they smoked behind their wives’ backs and held wine tastings before joining the family for lunch.
Despite being 80 years old, he was not the type of man to grow old in front of the TV. Rather, he roamed the vineyard, the vegetable garden and the farm, climbing plum trees to pluck any hesitant fruit.
Grandfather Pepe died at 82 in August 2010; my mother brought home some of his belongings. Among them I found five shirts, all identical and unworn. They were the very same that my grandmother had been buying him for ages.
Heir:
Anarel·la Martínez Madrid (Friend in Berlin)
Location:
52.542579, 13.414026
Prenzlauer Berg
Size: Size L 2010
084. A T-Shirt
In 2010, I moved to Berlin, knowing very few people, save some friends from Halle that had also moved to the capital.
Anarel·la was also relatively new to the city and she quickly became one of my first Spanish friends. I contacted her and she hosted me for my first month. Anarel·la was like human glue, bringing us all together. Her personal gravity manifested a family of ex-pats, most of which Valencian and most of which having studied Fine Art. Others were from Galicia, Andalusia, La Mancha or the Basque Country. When some would leave, new ones would move in. One day, shortly before meeting up with Anarel·la, I found this t-shirt in the district of Prenzlauer Berg. As soon as she saw me in it, she insisted quite enthusiastically that I give it to her.
Location:
52.508127, 13.454299
Friedrichshain
2012
085. Two Pieces of Coal
In January 2012, I came back to Germany after having spent one year in Spain looking for a job.
In Berlin, I settled in a shared flat in the district of Friedrichshain. I lived with Christoph, a young hippie that ate a vegetarian diet and refrained from both smoking and drinking. He also tried to quit other habits, often unsuccessfully.
In winter evenings, temperatures would fall to 5 ºF. By the end of February, we ran out of coal for the stove and, being completely broke, started to splinter off pieces of the furniture. Unfortunately, our stove was not built for wood, as such high temperatures could ruin it. One March night at 02:00 am, I was woken up by a loud thick whoosh. I turned on the light and found a thin layer of black soot spread all over the room’s surfaces. Eventually we were kicked out of the flat so it could be renovated to accommodate for the district’s gentrification.
Heir: Christoph Thienhaus (First flatmate in Berlin)
Heir:
Irene Pascual Molinas (Friend and co-worker at GlogauAIR)
Location:
52.492258, 13.435925
GlogauAIR
2012
086. A GlogauAIR Catalog
Thanks to the Leonardo Da Vinci grant program, I was able to work at GlogauAIR, an artist residency in Berlin, for six months.
The place had people continuously coming and going; artists from all over the world came to spend some months working and sharing.
I forged great friendships there, spending many hours together at work and at play. My colleagues became my small family in Berlin, and GlogauAIR became my home, especially when my stove was on the fritz and I needed a warm place to sleep.
Heir:
Sabina Cabello Villarejo (Friend in Berlin)
Location:
43.628920, 13.505987
Ancona
2012
087. One World Map
In 2012 I was invited to spend four days at the Mediterranean Young Artists Biennale. I flew from Berlin to Munich and from Munich to Ancona, Italy. There I met Sabina, a girl from Málaga living in Madrid at the time. She told me she had a job interview in Berlin in two weeks, and as we got along well, I offered that she stay at my place. Sabina got the job, moved to Berlin and we still see each other quite often.
Before moving to Switzerland to work one winter, she gave me this world map with a single note:
Maybe with this one You will not get lost
Coordinates
Latitude: 3°12′43.2 ″N
Longitude: 5°12′39.6″E
I will miss you
This winter! Hope Everything goes well
Much love Sabina
2012
088. Sewing Kit
This sewing kit was given to me by Marieta for my birthday, complete with pins and needles, a tape measure, chalk for tracing sewing patterns, a cogwheel, various bobbins with different colors of thread and scissors. Even though I met Marieta in Valencia, it was in Berlin that we became close friends. She had been doing an internship for two years at Thikwa and it was entirely thanks to her that I also worked there.
Heir: María Campos Gisbert (Friend and co-worker)
Heir: Anarel·la Martínez Madrid (Friend in Berlin)
Location:
52.333299, 20.886697
Lomianki
Size:
4.2 x 3.5 in
2012
By the mid of 2012, Anarel·la invited us to go on an artist residency in Poland. We did not know exactly where it was, what it was about or what was involved, but we decided to go with her. We arrived in Lomianki, an ex-pat district in the outskirts of Warsaw. A woman called Iga hosted us at her home, treating us like her own children. Iga lived alone and her only goal was to sell the house and leave for Venezuela, where her husband lived. In spite of this, she would criticize Hugo Chávez and his government on a daily basis.
During our stay, José, Íñigo and I each did a project and exhibited at the Cervantes Institute in Warsaw. We also held a workshop for the kids from Lomianki.
089. A Photograph with the Kids from Lomianki
Heir: José Moñú Soria (Friend in Berlin)
Location:
52.516673, 13.383334
Berlin
2012
Moñú always wanted to have a convertible car. With the excuse of having to move house, he rented one to make the day more pleasant. It was obviously not a very practical idea. We ended up spending the entire day together with Inés, Íñigo and Jara, visiting places in Berlin where we had never been. The move was postponed. Moñú was wearing this ‘Stitch’ cap that I bought in Oslo.
090. A Cap
Heir: Matthias Hajek
Location:
52.434644, 13.574617
Rohrwall-Insel
2012
091. A Padlock
We had to wake up very early to pick up Matthias’ new rowboat.
He had bought it at a second hand market from a Münchner. The cheapest possible transport for the boat left at 08:30 am. It was 14 º F outside, Matthias had to work, so he asked Blanca and me whether or not we could help him.
We went to Grünau by regional train. From there, we took the tram three stops and approached number 143, Grünauer Straße, where someone was waiting for us. We dragged the rowboat to the water and set it afloat, hopping in and rowed up to Rohrwall-Insel, a small artificial island upon which Mathias had rented a house built under the GDR (German Democratic Republic).
We stored the rowboat and made coffee. We wrapped ourselves in some blankets and had breakfast on the island before heading back.
The dock door had been fastened with a padlock that I put inside my backpack and forgot to replace.
Blanca Santa-María Mejía (Friends in Berlin)
Location:
-4.055679, 39.670145
Biashara Street, Mombasa
2012
092. Fabric from Kenya
Lamu is a small island in Kenya that one can only access from Mokowe, by boat. Sven spent five weeks there working for a NGO before embarking across the continent through the country’s deserts and natural parks, staying in small, remote villages. He brought me a brass bracelet, an African mask made of wood and a piece of fabric that men use to cover their legs. Sven and I met in Berlin on the 1st of May 2012 as we celebrated International Workers’ Day. Since then, we meet regularly to have a drink and chat about work, bureaucracy, projects, money, food, girls, travels… Recently, topics have included the possibility of building a wooden ship to navigate the lakes in Berlin.
Heir: Sven Baumann (Friend in Berlin)
2012
093. A Sewing Machine
It was difficult to distinguish the office from the studio. Both were overflowing with papers and littered with spare parts, tools and old pieces of furniture with different types of drawers. As I walked through, a gangly man with dirty fingernails, long straight hair and an dingy hat appeared, straight out of an American road movie. He was a Gepetto type, proudly surrounded by the that machines he himself repaired.
With a toothpick hanging from his mouth, looking simply ghastly, he all but forced me to sit and try some of his machines. I got a simple second hand Singer Starlet that has not given me any trouble to this day.
Heir:
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
094. Two Photographs of Frank and Mia
Heir:
Mia Martelli
Frank Schneider (Co-workers at Thikwa Werkstatt)
Location:
52.486706, 13.389754
Thikwa Werkstatt
Size:
4.2 x 3.5 each one
2012
Two instant photographs of Frank and Mia, with whom I have worked since 2012 at Thikwa / Werkstatt für Theater und Kunst, in Berlin.
Heir: Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Location:
40.376364, -3.697639
12th of October Hospital, Madrid
2013
My father suffered from an illness that affects a very small percentage of people, thus catalogued as a rare disease. Most of these diseases do not have a cure because the research is too expensive given the few patients who suffer from them.
In the January of 2013, as I was living in Berlin, my aunt and my mother called me to say that they were taking my father to Madrid. Even though they would not say it, we knew that this meant that Justi (as we used to call him) had little time left to live.
First, my aunt Merche spent some time with him, then my brother Diego, and then me. After spending one week with him at the hospital, I decided to bring him back to Burgos so that he could stay with the family.
During the days I spent in Madrid, I filled this notebook with proverbs, memories and moments with my father. Justi was 56 years old and suffered from Crest Syndrome.
095. A Notebook
Heir:
Location:
42.338686, -3.702110
El Riojano
2013
When you move abroad, cultural differences become immediately obvious. You try to integrate: speaking softly, removing your shoes when entering a home, forgetting the customary two kiss greeting and politically incorrect jokes. However, certain things stick. In Burgos, before returning home after a night out, we would have churros and chocolate for breakfast in El Riojano. Even when I moved to Valencia, Bilbao and Barcelona, I always found alternatives. Living abroad makes this more complicated. When you stumble home at 09:00 am in the morning and all you want to do is eat something, churros are not usually on the menu.
That changed when my mother sent me this beauty. Ever since, Berlin tastes a little bit more like home.
096. A Churro Press
Maite Bueno Clemente (Friend in Berlin)
Heir:
María Campos Gisbert (Friend and co-worker)
Location:
52.486532, 13.390148
Thikwa Werkstatt
2013
Sabrina, Oli and Jonny are some of the artists I work with at Thikwa / Werkstatt für Theater und Kunst, a center for the professionalization of handicapped artists in Berlin.
All three are actors, performers, musicians, singers and plastic artists. Even though they have great difficulty reading or writing, they managed (maybe with a little help) to send us this postcard during one of their tours in Europe.
* The text is illegible.
097. A Postcard from Sabrina, Oli and Jonny
Heir: Jara López Ballonga (Former girlfriend)
Location:
37.979032, 23.726781
A hats shop in Athens
2013
098. A Skipper Cap
We embarked on a trip we had planned months earlier and, without a second thought, we flew to Greece for a few days.
We were in Athens, Aegina and eventually Hydra, a small island with no motor transportation. Donkeys and small boats are used as taxis.
We did not visit the Acropolis or other famous monuments in Athens. We decided to wander, gathering to observe the decadence of a capital city suffocated by economic crisis.
It was a week fraught with emotions. At the time, I sometimes wondered whether traveling with Jara was a good decision after having split up. We have not seen each other since.
Walking through Athens, we discovered a hat shop; Jara bought a straw hat and I bought a skipper cap.
Heir: Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Size:
Size L 2013
099. A Leather Jacket
A Chevignon leather jacket that I found at my father’s home after he died.
100. A Woolen Ball
Heir:
Corinna Heidepriem (Co-worker at Thikwa Werkstatt)
Location:
52.486629, 13.390177
Thikwa Werkstatt
Size:
Ø 13.8 in 2013
A woolen ball made by Corinna Heidepriem.
‘I am fine, it is that easy,’ she answers, despite no one having asked her. She confuses Ich (I) with du (you), and she sometimes talks about herself in third person. She likes dancing behind me while I am looking for a pencil. On Saturdays she eats alla lombarda at her mother’s place. She had more than one thousand drawings of beetles, comets, trees, fishes, yo-yos, tulips, tetra packs, perspective rooms, planes, apples, strawberries, bananas and other fruits. All of them in the same format and always using the same chromatic range.
Corinna does not talk much and she does not like strong emotions. She is autistic and she rather prefers routine.
101. 13 Notes
Heir:
Hotel Meliá in Berlin
Different dates
Carlos came from Warsaw with his girlfriend to spend some time at my place. Moñú also stayed with me for a couple of weeks. Andrea did as well when she was looking for a room. Alejandro, Raúl and my brother came on holidays one summer. Mario brought seven friends to celebrate New Year’s Eve one year later. I normally leave early for work in the morning, and when I would return, they often had already left. Some of them left a thank you note on the table.
102. A Fruit from the Congo
Heir: Ada Margot Prete (Arnaldo and Louise’s daughter, friends in Berlin)
Location:
-4.302316, 15.234432
Brazzaville
Size:
Ø 3.3 in 2013
I lived with Lou for two years at number 13 Revaler Strasse, in Berlin. The building had been built before the Second World War in what would become East Berlin. It had belonged to a Jewish family, expropriated first by the Nazis and then by the socialist State. The owners got back the property after the fall of the Berlin Wall and they rented it out.
Lou went to the Congo in 2013 to work for six months with the UNHCR. A conflict in the Central African Republic had erupted and new refugee camps were being organized. Arnaldo, her partner, joined her in Brazzaville, where he would record his first album: Danzé.
As she was in the Congo, Lou had decided to leave Berlin for good. They now live in Brussels, where they have had their first daughter, Ada Margot. This fruit, used in the Congo as a musical instrument, is the present that Lou and Arnaldo brought back for me when they returned to Europe.
103. My Father’s Mobile Phone
A black Nokia 2720, with 32 megabytes of memory, stereo FM radio and integrated 1.3 megapixel camera. When my father passed away, I decided to keep his mobile phone for a while. That way, I could explain everything to anyone who called and did not know: clients, distant friends, acquaintances. I still use it when I go to Spain.
Heir: Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother) 2013
Heir: Sven Baumann (Friend in Berlin)
Location:
52.507276, 13.454444
Der Kegel
Size:
Size 10
2013
104. A Pair of Climbing Shoes
Sven, Sabina and I meet once a week at Der Kegel (The Cone), a very well-known indoor climbing wall in Berlin, where we spend from two to three hours climbing. Physical activity and conversation becomes a kind of weekly therapy, as well as an excuse to see each other.
Sven and I started to climb at the same time and our progress has been parallel. If I manage to finish a route before him, he will normally blame it on his climbing shoes. He then touches them, looking for imperfections, claiming they do not grip enough or that the rubber is of poor quality.
Heir:
Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Location:
42.373732, -3.731095
My father’s workshop 2013
105. A Stapler and a Holepunch
The customers of my father’s industrial sharpening workshop were mainly carpenters, print workshops and all kinds of factories working with cutting tools that need a particularly sharp edge.
In 2013, when my father passed away, my brother and I inherited the workshop. Since we could not carry on the business, we sold the machinery and some of the tools so that we could pay off the debt we had also inherited.
When we cleaned everything up in order to rent the place, I kept, among other things, his stapler and his holepunch.
106. A Pair of Shoes
Heir: Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Size: Size 10 2013
A pair of hand made shoes that my brother gave to me.
Heir:
Sven Baumann
María Campos Gisbert
María Gonzalvo Gómez
Martí Guillem Císcar
Jara López Ballonga
Manuel Mansergas Monte
Anarel·la Martínez Madrid
Begoña Martínez Santiago
Carlos Pedrón Rico
Blanca Santa-María Mejía
Mireia Vila Soriano (Spanish friends in Berlin)
Location:
52.490969, 13.470087
Treptower Park
Size:
33.8 in Ø 1.4 in
2014
A wooden stick, picked up in Treptower Park, which ‘the family’ gave me (my group of Spanish friends in Berlin).
Treptower Park is a huge park next to the Spree river, on the Eastern side of Berlin. It is ten minutes away from my home by bike, so in the summer I normally go there for a solitary stroll or to spend the day barbecuing with friends.
107. A Wooden Stick
Heir:
Maite Bueno Clemente
Alba Gador Díaz Navarro
Esther Rizo Casado (Friend in Berlin)
Julia Maja Mittwoch (Jule) (Friend and former girlfriend)
2014
108. A Belt Pouch
Esther moved to Berlin and needed a room. At Jule’s place there was one free, so I put them in contact. Through Esther, I met Maite, who then introduced me to Alba.
All four gave me this belt pouch with a Caribbean print for my birthday.
Heir: Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother, computer expert)
Size: 500 GB capacity
2014
109. A Damaged Hard Drive
When my hard drive was damaged, I lost a massive amount of photos and personal memories I had stored for many years. Even though data is retrievable, the process is quite expensive. I dismiss this as not immediately essential and continue to postpone recovery.
110. A Typewriter
Heir:
Art O’Connor
(Former flat mate)
Location:
52.508387, 13.455612
Simon Dach Str.
2014
Art O’Connor and Leopold O’Shea are two Irishmen who lived in Berlin in the winter of 2014. Art used to work in a bookshop and Leo used to translate texts into French. The rest of the day they would just spend writing. Living on little, they were obliged to share a small, dark room with a high bed and no heating. In their free time, they used to go to Place Clichy, a French bar that can be seen from my window. There they would share whisky on the rocks, stories of adventure and complicated romances until the wee hours, like two bohemians as Hemingway looked on. After a cold winter in Berlin spent writing, chasing tail and boozing, Leo decided to go back to his native Dublin and Art moved to Santorini to manage an old bookshop. When they left home, Art also left behind his Triumph Adler Tippa from 1968 with which he used to type.
Heir: Raina Gielge
(Former flat mate)
Location:
52.508226, 13.455624
Simon Dach Str.
2014
111. A Record Player
Raina left her home one day to pick up a friend from the airport. When she came back, she found her flat in flames and the area was cordoned-off. Her boyfriend managed to escape the fire on the roof, as did the rest of the neighbors. However, only the record player and a few other belongings escaped the flames.
Some years later, Raina and I lived together for a while. Before moving into another flat with her boyfriend, she gave me her record player. Through Raina, I met Clara.
Heir: Clara Trischler (Partner)
2014
112. A Game of Truth or Dare
Clara and I have a tin full of cards that we usually take with us whenever we go out of Berlin; on some of them there is written a question, on the others a dare.
Left card. Truth: Your house burns. After everyone has Been rescued, you can recover one object. What would it be and why?
Right card. Dare: Get off in an underground station where you Have never been and buy something from the kiosk You always wanted to have when you were a kid.
2014
113. A Model of the Globe
Clara had spent her day at the Naschmarkt*, which was about to close for the day. While vendors were closing up, she was still walking through the market looking for photographs from the 30s. She did not manage to find any, but once the market closed for the evening, she happened upon this abandoned wonder. It was the first present she brought back for me from Vienna: a model of the globe, hand-made in Prague, from the end of 19th century and for which nobody had shown any interest.
* The Naschmarkt is the most well-known open-air market in Vienna. There is a long stretch teeming with second-hand objects.
Heir: Clara Trischler (Partner)
114. 12 Almonds from My Village
Heir:
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Location:
42.027873, -3.656615
The almond trees in my village
2014
12 almonds that my mother gathered in the village and sent to me in a box by post.
115. A Flyer of a Film I Watched with Clara, a Flyer of an Exhibition I Visited with Clara and A Note from Clara
Heir: Clara Trischler (Partner)
Location:
52.506062, 13.328617
Delphi Filmpalast
52.506689, 13.330548
C/O
52.508387, 13.455612
Simon Dach Str.
2014 - 2015
1. Sueñan los androides is a Spanish film by Ion de Sosa based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? It takes place in an apocalyptic Benidorm in the year 2052. We went to see it during the Berlinale of 2015.
2. In the Magnum Contact Sheets exhibition, in the C/O of Berlin, the contact sheets from the Magnum Agency’s most relevant photographic series were exhibited.
3. Clara had to keep writing on that evening. It was late and I had gone to sleep. In the morning when I woke up Clara was not there, but I found this written note mixing German and Spanish:
Hello Handsome!
Unfortunately I could not stay here because:
I am a bit hungry
I need a coffee
I have wet cloths at home
You sleep much better without light
Have a good day and see you tonight Goodnight kiss
Clara
Goodmorning kiss
Heir: Clara Trischler (Partner)
Location:
35.877759, -5.522544
Tangier Med 2 Port
2015
116. Two Empty Miniature Bottles of Vodka
Two miniature bottles of vodka that Clara and I drank as we gazed upon Europe from Africa. We had left the van in Algeciras to spend some time in Morocco. On our way back, we had to wait five hours for the ferry due to a delay.
At night, less than 9 miles away from the Spanish coast, we contemplated the sources of the light coming from the other side of the strait and the stars in the sky while listening to the sea. After some time without drinking alcohol and with so much waiting to do, we decided to share the lemon vodka that we bought duty-free at the port. As we waited, Clara whispered to me in Slovak:
‘L´úbim T´a’.
2015
117. 14 Tin Toys
Peter and I worked together for four years at Thikwa, up until he retired in 2016 after 21 years of managing the center. Along with Marieta, we made art in addition to running the workshop. Shortly before retiring, he started to reorganize his life, starting with his flat. Peter gave me several objects he wanted to get rid of: analog photo cameras, books, exhibition catalogues, an old slide projector and 14 tin toys.
Heir: Peter Brutschin (Friend and co-worker in Berlin)
118. Sea Salt
Heir:
Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Location:
38.747489, 1.431103
A rock formation in Formentera
2015
After traveling through Ibiza, we decided to cross over to Formentera. Walking along the seashore, we found a secluded beach with towering dunes and crystal clear water; my mother stayed there with my things and I kept on walking towards Espalmador. From a distance, I saw black rocks with wide white hollows, making a very striking contrast. From the water and the waves, a layer of salt the thickness of my finger had formed. I broke the crust and I grabbed as much as I could.
Heir: Maria Hajek (Goddaughter. Matthias Hajek’s daughter, a friend in Berlin)
Location:
52.491286, 13.291307 Martin Luther Hospital
2015
119. A Cigar
On the 5th of November, 2015 I smoked a cigar with Matthias at the entrance of the Martin Luther Hospital, one day after his daughter Maria was born, my goddaughter. She weighed 9.3 pounds and I was the first visitor they had.
Location: 37.160824, -8.906192
Near Praia do Amado
2015
120. Five Pieces of Slate
Five pieces of slate which I found with Clara on a beach. From Tarifa, the most southern point in continental Europe, stopping at Armação de Pêra along the way, we arrived in Sagres. The wind was howling and in the water (freezing cold, even in summer) there were only people wearing wetsuits. The sun set over the Atlantic, forming long shapes. Ever since, we refer to this kind of distant, intense golden light as ‘Sagres’ Light’. That night we slept by the sea after having fish for dinner. In the morning, we drove north. We stopped at Carrapateira and went on to Praia do Amado. There, walking through the mountains, we found a beach of slate rather than sand. The rocks grew dark as the waves wetted them.
Heir: Clara Trischler (Partner)
Heir: Clara Trischler (Partner)
Location:
28.095383, -17.342097
Trasmallo Restaurant
2016
121. A Napkin
We had goat cheese with palm syrup and dorada with vegetables for dinner; we drank wine, barraquito* coffee, water and honey rum.
Clara and I took a paper napkin with a print of the Canary Islands from Restaurante Trasmallo, at La Calera Beach, on La Gomera Island, the 8th of May 2016.
* A coffee drink very popular in the Canary Islands.
2005 - 2016
122. A Backpack
It has broken zippers, the fabric is threadbare and it does not fit my back very well anymore.
I took it with me to Valencia in 2005, Bilbao in 2008, Cologne and Halle the year after, and Berlin in 2010.
This backpack has come with me to every single country I have visited in the last 11 years.
Heir: Clara Trischler (Partner, traveler)
Heir: One for each sender 2006 - 2016
123. 22 Postcards
22 postcards that my friends sent to me from various cities and countries between 2006 and 2016.
124. Ten Maps
Ten maps of several cities I have visited between 2005 and 2016: Ancona, Hamburg, Oslo, Copenhagen, Tangier, Warsaw, Barcelona, Dublin, Athens and Vienna.
2005 - 2016
Heir: Sven Baumann (Friend in Berlin, traveler)
125. Nine Books
The nine books that Clara gave to me between November 2014 and November 2016.
- The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
- Das Museum der Unschuld by Orhan Pamuk
- Pamplona in July 1923 by Ernest Hemingway
- The Last Day of Purim by Yosi Vasa and Yarden Vasa
- Reiseführer des Zufalls by Lena Grossmüller
- Atlas of Remote Islands by Judith Schalansky
- Tarih Tibbl KonuSturdu 2 by Talha UGurluel
- Important Artifacts and... by Leanne Shapton
- Sweet Earth. Experimental Utopias in America by Joel Sternfeld
Heir: Clara Trischler (Partner)
2014 - 2016
Heir: Fátima Castaño Risco (Friend)
Location:
36.878703, -2.004081
Las Negras Beach, Cabo de Gata Natural Park
2016
126. A Sea Sponge
During my last trip before completing this book, I went to visit my mother. I also met my uncle Paco, my aunt Toya and my aunt Merche. I met Hugo, Juanjo, ‘el Goku’, Elena, ‘el Seko’, Alejandro, ‘el Chipi’, ‘el Calvo’, Roberto, ‘el Rulos”, Iván and María as well. After spending four days in Burgos, I took a train to Almería, where Carlos, Thais and Clara were waiting for me. Together we spent five days exploring the beaches and desert of the Cabo de Gata Natural Park.
On the last day, Fátima arrived, who I had not seen in four years. Along with Lucca, her partner, we traveled to Berja, where Alba had invited us to her country house, nestled between mountains and croplands.
In Granada, Clara and I spent one night at Fátima and Lucca’s home in Sacromonte. We ate roasted fish on her terrace with the Alhambra and the whole city right in front of us.
In the morning we left for Madrid. We stayed at Juanma’s place and met my mother, who had come from Burgos to say goodbye and spend the day with us before we left for Berlin.
Heir: Lourdes Alonso Izquierdo (Mother)
Diego Martínez Alonso (Brother)
Clara Trischler (Partner)
2016
127. Six Keys
Six keys needed to pick up my belongings. From left to right:
- The gate key.
- The key to my flat.
- The basement key.
- The mailbox key.
- The bike lock key.
- The locker key at work.
MY GRANDFATHER’S SHIRT, A WOODEN STICK, 12 ALMONDS FROM MY VILLAGE
AND OTHER INCALCULABLY VALUABLE OBJECTS
Álvaro Martínez Alonso is a Spanish artist born in Burgos in 1983.
My Grandfather’s Shirt, a Wooden Stick, 12 Almonds from My Village and Other Incalculably Valuable Objects is his first published book. Through diverse media, Álvaro Martínez Alonso explores issues with a collective or social nature, based on personal experiences.
Since 2006 he has taken part in dozens of exhibitions, amongst which are: Capitalist Melancholia, in Halle 14, Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst of Leipzig (2016); Álvaro Martínez. Ein Land im Stillstand, in the gallery 100Kubik of Cologne (2013); VIVA OFF, Vital International Video Art, in the gallery José Robles of Madrid (2012); Un País Suspendido, in DA2 of Salamanca (2012); 16th Mediterranean Young Artists Biennale, in Ancona (2013); and other exhibition spaces in Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Austria, Venezuela, Argentina and Uruguay. His work is part in collections of Museo de Arte Contemporáneo
Patio Herreriano, the Injuve (Instituto de la Juventud), the SKAD (Spanisches Kunst-Archiv in Deutschland) and the SEUA (Société Européenne des Auteurs), among others.
His work has been awarded prizes by the Injuve in Visual Arts (2011), the Valencian CREA (2011) and the 12th Young Creators Competition of Salamanca (2012). He has recently been finalist in the 20th FotoPres ‘la Caixa’ (2015).
alvaromartinez.net
When carrying out an inheritance, if no will has been made, the notary normally considers all goods with certain economic value as goods to inherit: properties, vehicles, shares, insurances, bank accounts, jewelry, etc.
In the best scenario, all other belongings end up stored by close relatives. Never will this be inventoried, nor will it be specified which goods were discussed, nor who should be receiving them. Thus, a damaged watch that the deceased had kept since his youth, the cap brought from holidays in Athens, the photograph of a former girlfriend and some other apparently irrelevant objects end up often in hands of descendants that do not know their value. They will then be discarded or forgotten.
My Grandfather’s Shirt, a Wooden Stick, 12 Almonds from My Village and Other Incalculably Valuable Objects is an inventory of objects that documents moments, personal relationships and memories of the author’s life (Álvaro Martínez Alonso). Objects with little economic value, nothing else but his will after all.
www.alvaromartinez.net
