CHAPTER 12: Miquel Barceló: The Rotten and the Waste as a Fundamental Part of the Process

Miquel Barceló started to work in the Seventies, having a strong connection with the Conceptual Art Movement of his native island, Majorca. One of his first solo shows was called Cadaverina and displayed the progressive deterioration of fifteen different matters. The interest in organic materials remained central in his practice even when the artist started to paint his first works, in which earth, sand and trash were mixed with pigment. The general praxis remained also in his latest ceramics and sculptures. In the course of the present chapter it will be examined how different restorers approached the conservation of Barceló's works, keeping in mind that the slow decomposition of some elements is an integral part of the research of the artist. Moreover, in the latest section we will examine the importance of the resins in Barceló's research, such as the one adopted for the famous ceiling in Geneva. At the end of the paper the reader will have a comprehensive understanding of organic materials and their adoption in Barceló's research.