Intimate
Women’s stories of affection as a form of social balance
Madrid Destino, World Pride 2017.
Creative grant, Department for the arts, Madrid City Council 2017.
Via a number of projects, ‘Intimate’ approaches real case studies of relationships among women, their daily routines, conversations, personal processes. It investigates the dialogic approach and sensitivity of the female spectrum, delving into their symbolic and referential values. It began in 2016 with the short animated feature ‘Dita and Patrícia session’ and then, in 2017, ‘Intimate, the series’, a web series broadcast live and focusing on romantic relationships among women. With ‘Intimate (Cartography)’ in 2018 the spectrum broadens to a range of relationships: neighbours, sisters, girlfriends, mothers and daughters, from the feminist perspective.
Intimate (Cartography)
Women’s stories of affection as a form of social balance.
Creative grant, Department for the arts, Madrid City Council 2017.
This project maps affection, both in terms of its artistic content: a range of pieces, portraits and audio files; and in terms of social mediation: initiatives to strengthen networks among women in Madrid. The artwork resizes the value of female networks, often deemed lesser than other sorts of relationships, and yet, from this project’s gender perspective, one of the crucial networks underpinning social balance.
Over a number of months, it will evolve into a visual and audio piece of fluctuating netart, depicting the entire city of Madrid and, by selecting a myriad of case studies, will grow into a map of relationships among women, with affection and caring as its nexus. Couples, neighbours, sisters, girlfriends, mothers and daughters, all sorts of relationships with the same anchor.
Work of netart
‘Intimate (Cartography)’ can only be viewed online where a map of Madrid’s districts and streets is waiting to be discovered. The work is designed as an image with multiple dots indicating the case studies that, one by one, weave together to form the symbolism of the piece. The dots pinpoint the participants’ homes, spread out across the entire city of Madrid. By moving the cursor over the map, each of the dots opens to display the individual cases, with an image, portraits of the women, while also playing a linked audio file. The audio files, each approximately a minute long, are extracts from the one-on-one interviews with the couples, neighbours, girlfriends, relatives, participating women, and centre on the description of what unites them. The selection is a symbolic depiction of the universe of relationships among women, offering a glimpse into the solid network of affectionate and caring connections, of mutual support, which usually goes unnoticed. A dense structure which, as each case study is viewed and heard, changes the map from just an initial series of dots to a web of connections linking each of the nodes with beams of blue lights, gradually building up on the map of Madrid and revealing its ultimate purpose: a map depicting stories of love.
This project has been granted by Madrid Council 2017, Matadero Contemporary Art Center
Intimate, The series
Intimate, the series’ are three episodes that integrate this web movie about women and lesbian couples
“Intimate, the series” is a Toxic Lesbian project for the broadcasting of web movies via the social network Periscope (@toxiclesbian). It comprises of 3 live episodes which can be viewed live between February and April 2017.
“Intimate” began in 2016 with “Dita and Patrícia’s session”, looking at real cases of relationships between women, their day-to-day life, conversations, and personal journeys. In the project “Intimate, the series”, the web movie episodes are “Aurora and Jimena’s session”, which will be shown on February 18th 2017 from 11.30am until 12pm live via Periscope (@toxiclesbian) and www.toxiclesbian.org; the second is “Leticia and Pili’s session”, on March 18th at 7pm and finally “Alba and Power’s session” on April 2nd at 2pm.
Each episode of the web series is recorded live in the houses of the participating couples and the 30 minute programme shows us what their day-to-day relationship is like.
With the support of Madrid Council, Madrid World Pride 2017.
Episode 1: ‘Intimate (Aurora and Jimena's session)’
Aurora and Jimena are two women who live together as a couple in the Lavapiés neighbourhood, an area with a large lesbian and feminist community. The programme will be broadcast between 11.30am and 12pm on February 18th 2017, the normal time for them to eat breakfast together.
The weekend is a time for them to work on their relationship, to become closer by talking which is, for both, of crucial importance. Their home is a key space for them to be together and communicate, a private place where they have built a mutual space with a calming ambiance.
The Lavapiés neighbourhood has been welcoming to them given its respect for diversity, but they have been on the receiving end of homophobic attacks which have been limited to insults and threats. In spite of this Aurora and Jimena, both born in Madrid, see it as an ever-changing neighbourhood full of opportunities
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Episode 2: ‘Intimate (Leti and Pili’s session)’
The couple, Leti from Ecuador, and Pili from the Canary Islands, live in the Vallecas neighbourhood, where they identify with the Madrid working-class borough’s roots. Its revolutionary fame, and identity as a struggling working-class neighbourhood, alongside the huge diversity of nationalities and origins of those who live there, reflects their own activist nature. The genuine neighbourhood feel and community life was a huge draw for them.
This episode of the series will be shown between 7 and 7.30pm on Saturday 18 March 2017, when like many other couples they are carrying out normal daily activities which help them to build a shared life. It’s an opportunity to listen to their thoughts about their own life, to build on their partnership and to develop the kind of closeness required to enrich both their lives.
The relationship for is far from the romantic ideal for either of them. They don’t feel the need to agree on everything, and accept differences as a natural part of their personal journey.
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Episode 3: ‘Intimate (Alba and Power’s session)'
Alba and Power are two women who live together in Delicias where they enjoy community life. This unprejudiced community welcomed them with open arms and they have had no problems. The diverse nature of its population is a good thing for our couple: both have found their place amongst its diversity.
They share their home with their dogs and with their family and friends: socialising and affection define their daily lives. They consider themselves very open people who are environmentally aware and have a social conscience.
The programme will be broadcast on 2 April at 2pm from their kitchen. They enjoy cooking together or for friends, who they often invite to their home. They are surrounded by music, which is a constant in their house, both eclectic and emotional.
Click on photos to enlarge / Download 6 images in .pdf