​Tono Carbajo 

The Houses of Whishes ( work in progress )

 

There are many metaphors related with houses, as

they are a symbolic element in every culture.

 

The Kuna argue that "being subject of your own

home " and " house " is not limited to the dwelling,

but inevitably extends to the land. And this house

(ground) in turn refers to ‘the big house’ that is

Mother Earth. We may infer, therefore, that being,

the house and the cosmos are one.

 

According to Karl Jung, ‘house’ is the archetype

of ‘I’, the deep personality. If we put together both

concepts we could say that the house is our most

intimate cosmos. It is here where our fears and

desires stay. Our body is also a house, an ‘outside’

house. With the years passing, the houses start

to look increasinglyalike, exposing both life’s

highlights and the accumulated scars.

 

 

 

 

Houses of Wishes is a project where participants are asked to write an important wish. Some of the petitions were made online, other in person. We are not used to asking ourselves these kinds of questions, although they are the reflection of our essence and the life we’d love to have. Our biggest dreams and wishes, everything the money can’t buy; they are our utopian territory, the house where we’d love to dwell.

 

The Houses of Wishes will stay on the streets of Leith and in the gallery space. The houses are made with construction materials from old Barcelonian buildings.

 

On these houses, the artist will write people’s wishes: wishes that can’t be purchased. These small houses will be placed around the site, creating a contrast between the fragile structure and the imposing building of the shopping mall. They are part of a healing ritual: we express our wishes as the first step to having them fulfilled. By naming them we activate reflection, desire, and will.

 

Most of the houses will be placed be on top of stones that border the wasteland in front of Ocean Terminal. Each stone becomes an island, a territory where to build our wish. The location of the individual houses is recorded and can be checked on the artist’s website.