Name
| Des del Centre |
Description
Des del Centre is a two-part work by Eugènia Balcells (Barcelona, 1943), uniting past and present through an architectural and audiovisual dialogue.
Created in New York City between 1980 and 1982, From the Center is a seminal work in both Balcells’s career and the history of video art, recognized as one of the first multichannel installations. Twelve video channels are arranged in a circle, each showing a distinct perspective from a fixed point—the rooftop of a building in New York. The work explores the notion of the center as a physical, symbolic, and emotional place. In the exhibition space, the monitors surround a central stone, evoking the earth as a point of origin and grounding.
More than four decades later, Balcells has conceived a definitive installation of this piece under the title Des Del Centre, presented beneath an iridescent dome, Globus Òptic (2025), which reflects light—the essence of the universe—and suggests a sense of spherical completeness. The interior evokes the great megalithic monuments of antiquity, a kind of “electronic Stonehenge,” in the artist’s words.
Des Del Centre was exhibited at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) in Barcelona, where it was presented as a culmination of Balcells’s exploration of light, space, and perception.
Together, Globus Òptic and From the Center form an immersive environment where architecture, perception, and energy converge. The dream of empathically connecting with the universe becomes, in light of humanity’s evolution, a scientific, poetic, and moral imperative for the twenty-first century.
Sector
| Digital Arts |
Service
| AV Production Planning, Content Design, Assembly & Technical Tests Supervision |
Design and execute lighting proposal. |
Client
Eugènia Balcells & MNACPartners & Collaborators
| Artist: Eugènia Balcells Architect & Project Manager: Magrada Proyectos Content Technologist & Programmer: Jaime Pericás Fiol Lighting Designer: ILM Bcn |