A lecture-performance by Conservas .

 

 

When we enter the CD Club, a conference hall in the 6th floor at the beautiful auditorium Cankarjev Dom, we are given a small folder. The four colored plastic cards inside -red, blue, yellow and green- are the peculiar ballots of the democratic experience we are about to experience, as we are informed. “Advanced Realities” is one of the most acclaimed projects by Conservas, the theater company lead by Simona Levi whose work is to be located in the intersection of art and activism. As a rizomatic collective involving different people depending on their projects, Conservas have been actively taking part in the housing and the free culture movements in Barcelona. In “Advanced Realities” they explore these issues through the screening of some of their videos, a multimedia questionnaire and an open discussion.

The housing movement is a well-known phenomenon in Spain. It has attracted social movements, art collectives and individuals concerned by the scarcity of affordable housing, the growing speculation on the real market, the rise of long-term mortgages, the transformation of the urban space in the city centers (gentrification and the like) and the commodification of the public as a whole. A very appealing slogan (“No vas a tener casa en tu puta vida”: “You won't get a house in your fucking life”) helped to the rise of the movement and lead to massive demonstrations, manifestos spread all over the internet and some reactions from the Spanish government. One of them was the Kelly Finders campaign, “a real art piece” as Simona says, that put it simple: We cannot guarantee your housing right, but we can give you a pair of good sneakers to walk through the town and find it. It had a big social impact (“people were pissed off”) and Conservas, together with the housing movement, reacted quickly: four days before the elections, the published online a video about the real market speculation in Barcelona. Recorded with hidden cameras, it featured real conversations between tenants and public institutions and showed to what extent the City Council was involved in the phenomenon. It was the most visited video of the week in You Tube in Spain and was censured following the demand of one of the biggest national banks, La Caixa.

 

 

In “Advanced Realities” the housing problem is directly connected with the public domain, the commons and the free culture. The next video in the show is an hilarious fiction about several intellectual property smugglers: a band of middle-age housewives sharing copyrighted recipes and a group of wedding guests singing popular tunes. The questionnaire addresses it with a lot of humor. For example: Which of the following doesn't have an owner meaning that anyone can go around doing it as though it belonged to everyone? A. Sing Happy Birthday, B. Double-click with the mouse of a computer, C. Cover a bald patch by combing back the hair on the side of one's head. In fact the three of them are copyrighted (the bold hair-style too). Or: The few cents you pay to intellectual property associations when you buy a blank DVD mean that... A. It's a preventive levy because they can see into your future B. The holidays home videos you were ready to burn were made by Steven Spielberg, C. As you have already paid for your crime you can offend freely by copying Cristina Aguilera's latest record. Please vote! A camera connected to a computer gives back a live picture of the audience and estimate the votes. The results are quickly screened in front us. Like in real democracies. As they say: One spectator, one vote.

The videos and the questionnaire are published on the website of the company and are entirely copylefted.

 

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