Xixónica Temporary Capsule

Juan Cañada and Juan Gama

4 January 2024

2-channel video installation

Xixónica Temporary Capsule is an immersive audiovisual machine that offers a particular vision of the past, present and future of Gijón based on a fascinating duality: the city of leisure, exemplified by the beach of San Lorenzo; and the city of industry, exemplified by the steel industry and the Port of Musel.

The machine focuses on studying and understanding these infrastructural systems of the city, the energy networks and the mobility or tourism infrastructures. It examines how these elements have shaped and configured not only the physical structure of the city, but also its social structure, determining relationships, segregations, symbolic systems and hierarchies. Xixónica time capsule reveals how these systems have created boundaries, identities and communities, and how they continue to influence urban life.

Employing everything from historical image archives to generative AI, Xixónica time capsule revisits the past and envisions the future, encouraging the public to reflect on speculative scenarios for the city.

Artists: Juan Cañada and Juan Gama

Artwork included in the exhibition Digital Machines: Technology, Industry, Society.

CREDITS

Archivo del Pueblo de Asturias.