24774c by Editorial Océano de México, SA de CV

gi tgc jgc c h ih n t cñstg v ri droa oag mr n ygmcr ñct

ñ i v p n t gmñtt tc ogtñi c

ñih…

n p P ur y m m ymgnro t o dñig v cr agmñPgih

tsri p P cr Sñoñot h

toiP tgc o ihñtngc v tc ot c

c or pc v tgc ñctgh c

n hñ i ogs m cr ttg pr tp yñih m

i cr d ih ig a v agec n mrh iñ chm h sñ c iñd hc

c or chñói n S ingi mcr Sñoñot h y m ur o S

t pñe v dyñ o t mh ghmg hñyg n pñ e

It’s the 1970s and a lad is roaming around his island.

He hurtles back and forth, from the shore to the hills.

He paints…

Every time he stops, he reproduces the road and its horizon; sometimes, he paints his bike too.

He goes all the way to the clifs and the coves.

Te caves and the islets.

He pauses to catch his breath, then gets painting again.

In his mind there are no set routes, no strategies or destinations.

He just ditches his bike somewhere to end his journey, so he can get on with his art (a diferent kind of journey).

c ot p m c nrmih cñstgc a i cgSm ogsñng t c ñct c ocg ygmur ri c p o c t c m ymgnro i v ghm c p o c

t c cñmp i n cy eg t p P ygmur ogio ihm i t dñch mñg

n cr agmmgmv t dñcdg hñ dyg t ygtg n ri ñdAi ur igc hm a ch ttc

g a v ñct ur ig mm chm lgcñtñPn cr ymgyñ añchgmñn oS

Pc dr mhc o m Smgc ogip mhñngc i omAi gc n omAi gc

ogip mhñngc i ygtpg n hñ dygc m dghgc dñtñg ts mñ v

gS mh grñc h p icgi v iñ t lg urñ i c lr mgi VytEoñhgc

cgSm c m toñói n h mmgmv hm ooñói

gmur c om hd ih t iArlmsg cyñm iogihmm chgc ar cgc ur t p P ur t m ymgnro i t ñct t m s t i t ogdy jE de los viejos fantasmas. Como si todos sus orifcios replicaran crc ooñn ih c crc d inmgc tgc h(i t c crSh mmAi gc n cr lrind ihg t moig ur igc m s t crc gc d ihc crc o d ih mñgc ygm i mmm t m i ur t hñ dyg v tc d m c a i n eng n crc m chgc

gm cg cgi ogdg y nE ñ hPcoa gSm c n mh y ml oh c gm ur hñ i i t ngi ñiñsr t St n a S mc ogichmrñng cEdñcdc

gc ogtgiñPngm c n ih jg ohr tñP ngc i tgc hrmñchc n agv ymgv ohmgi crc dy c d ih t c cgSm tc ñctc cEnñchgmcñgi mgi cr p mnn lEcño , c mghrinñn n hgn lmgih m ur ñdytño c cy oñg mgn ng n zt d tnñh oñmorichioñ n t sr ygm hgnc y mh cq,

gm cg p o c tgc ñct jgc hm P i t odñig ogihmmñg c ur igc a St n t ñct ogdg ri cy oñg lEcñog v ur ig m urñ m t d igmtrcñói ri cy oñg d ih t cñig t omAi g dñcdg i cr tS mñihg lEcñog r ing ig c hm h n t ñn cñig n t o m Smg ñ n tgc ogio yhgc cñig n tgc c cgc r ing ig c t dy cñig t h mmñhgmñg y mhñmn urE v ig a v nñl m ioñ ihm ñctmc v y icm ,ñctmc y m d nñhm, c mñhr t ur c crygi n S ordytñm todo aspirante a flósofo: sacarle luz a la soledad para así ilustrarla g ñtrdñi mt

ch pñe ñicrtm , ihm t pñn v t dr mh t cy oñg v t hñ dyg t i hrm t P v t mh , cr t c mri pñe oñmortm

c mgn g ymgyñg n ri o mhósm lg n t ñih dy mñ c t ur m tñP rñtt d n t aEur cr ymñd m dñcñói ogi cñch i n mmgh m t hñ dyg aEcr ohñp oñói n ri t md ogihm t gmn i omgigtósñog n c zd m mq ,ur ig c ghm ogc ur t mh n i p s m, a ch ur y mn dgc t igoñói n t hñ dyg v t cy oñg

“¿Dónde estoy?”. “¿Al fnal o al principio?”. “¿Es de día o de noche?”.

Cuando Cristóbal Colón encontró las Antillas, ya fnalizado su P mgcg dm m n hm c d c c hmpLc n t htAihñog c añPg c tas preguntas hasta que llegó a la defnitiva: “¿Isla o continente?”.

m cyr ch n n t yrih tc ñctc ur cgi omAi gc cgi o m Smgc cgi t cy oñg lEcñog ur tge t y icdñ ihg y mg ur ig cgi t y icdñ ihg gdg t i hrm t P ig c t ogtgsE gdg t cgoñ n n ig c t cgoñgtgsE iñt omhgsm lE t y ñce

gm cg riur a Sñh i t dñcd hdócl m n t mh ogtósñog t crvg c dAc Sñ i ri mh mry chm a oag n t dñcdg dh mñ t n ri i hrm t P ur cEigc tg c srm ch mhñch ym o n v cgSm pñpñmA t nñcormcg cgSm tt ygm cg cr mh a Sñh i ri or p coginñn ihm t i hrm t P v t orthrm (chñog v n tño ng t dñcdg hñ dyg ig yñ mn t hñ dyg i t S(cur n n ri urñtñSmñg i hrmt ur c S ñdygcñSt

ñsrñ ing pñ m rS mh n ihóc n t ig t S ch ogi a St mcgSm tgc ñio inñgc t c hgmd ih c t c d m c g ur Lt ñih ih cgi gSm c ur ur d i ur hmr i i ur i p sr i aEm nño urñPA t c om hg n ch ñctgh y mhñort m i t ur o dy cr mh c i t ur rig ior ihm m y hñngc ñiLnñ tos, los grandes temas que arman la mitología de la insularidad: t c ñct c d ih t c v t c ñct c oAmo t c t c ñct c rhóyño c v t c n t h cgmg t c ñct c ogiurñch n c v t c ñiogiurñch St c ur tt c que son defnitivas y solitarias y fnales.

Skulls have epitomised islands for centuries. Perhaps that’s because skulls sometimes reproduce islands, or even mirror them. Or maybe it’s because skulls encapsulate all the mystery of the island’s sheer horror, as well as containing, simultaneously, the pole of a magnet that draws us towards such places.

All islands have their own long, fossilised history of dead heads. Of brains turned to skulls, of skulls crumbled to the dust of times past. Of Emilio Salgari and Robert Louis Stevenson and Daniel Defoe, who were explicit about that relationship between horror and attraction.

Because, secretly, the lone castaway ever hopes to fnd these bones: whilst reproducing the island for him, skulls also summon up old ghosts to keep him company. It’s as if all the skull’s orifces somehow mirror the island’s unevenness, its twists and turns, its deep underground tunnels, the secrets of its bones, its untold cemeteries, its sandy remains washed up there by time and the tides.

Tat’s why, as Nietzsche claimed, islands are perfect works of art: they have the unparalleled gif of having constructed themselves. Te colonisers of yesteryear — reembodied by the tourists of today — used to project their own mental maps onto islands. Tey thus distorted the islands’ physical truth, i.e. their rotundity, and their seeming borders formed by “the damn circumstance of water everywhere”.

Tat’s why, sometimes, islanders themselves go the opposite way. Te island is therefore regarded as a physical space, wit h no allusion at all to any kind of mental space; the cranium, for them, exists in its physical labyrinth. So it’s not about the idea, but rather the head. Not about concepts, but brains. And not about the map, but the actual territory.

From here on in, there is no diference between isolation and thought: that is, isolating oneself, island-wise, to think things over. Tis is the ritual that all aspiring philosophers are supposed to carry out: they must bring such solitude to light, in order to illustrate it (or illuminate it).

Tis insular, island journey — between life and death, space and time, nature and art — is usually a circular journey.

And this encircling, typical of an outdoor cartographer, is exactly what Guillem Nadal does. Tis is why his main mission is to defeat time. Tis is why he raises the alarm against the chronological order of “seafaring” — quite simply, the art of navigation — until we lose all concept of time and space.

“Where am I?”. “At the end or the beginning?”. “Is it day or night?”.

When Christoper Columbus came across the Antilles, afer three months of sailing haphazardly across the Atlantic, he pondered these very questions before reaching the defnitive one: “Island or continent?”.

Nadal’s response points towards islands, which are the crania, the brains, the physical space that contains thought — even though these parts themselves are not thought. Just as nature is not ecology. Society is not sociology, and cartography is not landscape.

Tis is why Nadal’s art, despite inhabiting the same sphere as ecological art, is in fact more akin to cave painting; it is made from the very material of a nature which, as the artist himself states, predates and will outlive any discourse about it.

And, therefore, his art inhabits a cave, hidden away somewhere between nature and culture. It is both rustic and delicate at the same time; Nadal wastes no time searching for a natural balance that he knows to be impossible.

As with Xavier Rubert de Ventós, for Nadal it is not enough just to talk about fres, storms, tides. Instead, he tries to create works themselves that burn, that rumble with thunder, that sail. And therein lies, perhaps, the secret of the particular islet where his art camps out. Right there, one fnds — repeated and unprecedented — the great themes that make up the lore of islandhood: mental islands and prison islands, utopian islands and treasure islands, both conquered and unconquerable islands, as well as islands that are defnitive and solitary and fnal.

ch mh mry chm ig m om t s chr tñn n h ómño n t c p i sr mnñc gmur c ri mh d mo n n t otñd v ig n t c y t Sm c i mh md ng ygmt mgcñói t ygnm nrdSm t cgt…

i mh mñhr t cgch iñng i ri dring i t ur a i cñng ogiurñc hnc hgnc tc ñctc d igc t crv i mh ur ñipn mAls c

t dring n t orthrm y mg ymgihg c n c ihñ in n tt ñi

ogmhn ñn gtósño iñoglm m hómñog dig

ch mh ñmmrdy i t c pñn c dgn mi c riur n t ig c

ogdg nñmE a mt c rn t ñm ri yñihgmn t pñn dgn mi

gdg ch gSm ñmmrdy i tgc drc gc y mg irio ogi t lAi

n mdgiñP mt orthrm ogi t i hrm t P urE t ñih dy mñ

d mo t h dyg n t gSm c h dyg ig m dñh t omgig

tgsE oghñnñ i v ngdLchño n ri pñn m csr mng t mñhdg

c omgc ihg n ir chm c p ñihñor hmg agm c t nE cñig t c

d m c t c hgmd ih c tgc arm o i c t c om oñn c n tgc mEgc

t c hgmm ih n c

mgcñgi c v ogc oa c yrhm l ooñgi c v n otñp c i tc ur ooñ

n ih dAc Sñ i y m o ri ooñn ih …

ñtgc mhñchc n t dñiñdtñcdg g t m tñPmgi ooñgi c i el espacio natural a los que trasladaban el impulso artifcial de la s t mE t drc g g tgc mñhgc rmSigc rñtt d n t a o tg ogi

trario: “trae” la naturaleza a esos espacios. Jibarizando la galería g t drc g v n eing ygmttEts(i m o ng i d nñg n t c ycñ n t

En estas piezas, la naturaleza no hace pactos. No se rinde ni frma oyñhrtoñgi c ñ n t om i t i hrm t P c ygmur ogicñ

n m ur ch s i mA t Sh tt ur hñ i trs mogihm tt g i

t c ihñng n t m hgmig ri dgd ihg c dñi t v Sroótñog g i t ñn n y m Ecg y mnñng iñ nLi n mmgh ng i hrm t P hmpñ

c t orthrm ogdg t y c ng hmpñ c t ym c ih ht or t tg pñg rov ñyy mn i g c hm h n gSm c cgSm t i hrm

t P cgi n t i hrm t P ur o cgSm t c gSm c

ñ ogihdgc ch añchgmñ c ym oñcd ih ygmur chdgc

ante un artista negado a contárnosla. Decía Jorge de Oteiza que t i hrm t P n t mh ig ch S i ogihm cñig i c j t m c yñ Pc n n t cgi ri cñch d n c j t c ri or myg n a oagc

cñi i mmhñp t pñch i o(drtg n l ohgc cñi d h iñgmñs i Son pura fecha desentendida del arquero y de la diana, tal cual le gustaba a José Lezama Lima.

rñtt d n t ñsigm nóin p y m mcr mh dr p ygm ñihrñoñói i ri d nñg cry mygSt ng n m hómño gmur t lñ i t c t hñ dyg v t ñih dy mñ tgc ur ogichmrv i ch c yñ P c i t c ur tgc d h mñ t c cgi tgc ur a o i t ogih iñng v ig t m pLc

gdg ri ihñsrg Sge ngmn ñct c g ogdg ri s ósmlg omEhñog que prefere medir a mano lo que la visión por satélite ya ha dado por exacto. Ahí descubriríamos que África o la India son mayores ur tg ur igc dr chmi tgc d y c r o mhgsmlE c t n antes que la de Jorge Luis Borges. En t d y lo defne el territorio. En el segundo, el mapa defne al territorio.

aEt ñmmryoñói n t y ñc e i Pgi c cLyhño c ,drc gc s t mE c oc c n ogt ooñgiñch c, ogdg ri ñipñh ng cgmym c cgSm p iñng cñi y mdñcg iñymghgogtg

nt md crc y ñce c ogi tgc rh icñtñgc ur tgc n chmrv i r

mh c t ngord ih oñói n tg ur t mh cogin i moañ

pg ogis tng n ri ymgo cg n mgcñói droag dAc n chmrohñpg

gm cg chc yñ P c cgi h dygm t c i t c ihñng n hgmd ih

ur hñ i ch y t Sm g h dygm t c ygmur h is i trs m nr

mih ri hñ dyg cñig ygmur n dr t i t cy oñg gi lgmdc

cñdrthAi c ogdg ri o t ñngcogyñg ri t ya c trs m zngin

chAi cñi ogilrinñmc hgngc tgc trs m c n t gmS pñchgc n cn

hgngc tgc Aisrtgcq hgngc cgc Aisrtgc gory ing z t dñcdg

yrihg cñi cry mygcñoñói v cñi hmicy m ioñ q

m n t hgn o mhgsm lE c t nñSreg n ri n p ch oñói i

y mcy ohñp ri o hAchmgl ygmtt s m v hgngc tgc d y c cgi

n lr sg

EDICIÓN / PUBLISHER rmi m

Ivan de la Nuez

FOTOGRAFÍAS / PHOTOGRAPHS tñ ñ m

Joan Ramon Bonet (pp. 86-87, 90-91)

David Bonet (pp. 68-69, 94-95, 142-143, 161)

DISEÑO / DESIGN dgi ñi m

COORDINACIÓN EDITORIAL / EDITORIAL COORDINATION rm chLp P rmi m

TRADUCCIÓN / TRANSLATION gms rhhgi

PRODUCCIÓN / PRODUCTION María José Fresneda (Turner)

ISBN: 978-84-18895-70-8

DL: M-27990-2023

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