Reflections and distortions in the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion

Alberto Peral's 'Splashing Mies' breaks the stillness of the architecture of the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, taking inspiration from David Hockney's famous 'A Bigger Splash' and creating a game of reflections and visual distortions that aims to challenge the stillness and serenity of the pavilion.

Until December 1, 2024, the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion hosts this ephemeral intervention, where Peral reinterprets the pavilion with dynamic elements that break the static symmetry and mirror image of the ponds. With the collaboration of Galeria Alegria and the curatorship of David Mesa , the artist introduces a thirty meter long tube, located on the roof, which pours water in a cascade over the two ponds. This source interconnects them and generates a constant movement that undoes the reflective surfaces of the pavilion, thus creating a spectacle of lights, shadows and reflections, in a space designed to be motionless.

For Mesa, architect and expert in architectural philosophy, this proposal highlights the duality between solidity and fluidity, with the presence of sculptural pieces that seem to dialogue with the reflection of the water. These structures, which refer to the pillars of the roof of the pavilion, are placed in pairs and arranged in a way that defies gravity. Unlike the original pillars, they are suspended or even cross each other, breaking the architectural integrity.

© Juan de Dios Jarillo

The sensory experience also has a sound dimension: the constant sound of falling water amplifies the feeling of movement and adds a rhythmic and at the same time meditative rhythm, while the inner pond, with a black bowl that holds the only calm water, contrasts with the agitation of the rest.

This intervention, in continuity with the previous In(Visible) Energy in October, is integrated into the Mies van der Rohe Foundation's program of artistic interventions, reaffirming the entity's commitment to keep the pavilion alive and dynamic through projects that confront the rigidity of the original design with contributions that update it.

Alberto Peral: sculpture, installations and visual poetry

Born in the Basque Country and trained in Fine Arts at the University of the Basque Country, Peral entered the artistic world thanks to the effervescent Arteleku scene in the nineties. From the first works exhibited alongside Ana Laura Aláez in Space 13 of the Fundació Joan Miró, Peral has explored a great diversity of media, including sculpture, installation and visual poetry, developing a language marked by formal experimentation and symbolism. The artist has built a trajectory based on simplicity and a special sensitivity for forms, always giving a symbolic power to the structures he uses, such as 'Splashing Mies', where he creates an aquatic poetics in which the boundaries between nature and architecture, reality and reflection.

© Juan de Dios Jarillo