UNCERTAINTY x EL TANQUE CULTURAL SPACE
by Uncertainty

IN MAY 2021 UNCERTAINTY TRANSFORMED THE SPANISH PAVILION AT LA BIENNALE DI
VENEZIA INTO AN INTERACTIVE MACHINE, AN UNCERTAIN PLATFORM, IN A CONTINUOUS
PROCESS – A VENUE FOR REFLECTION WHERE, INSTEAD OF PRESERVING OBSOLETE
CERTAINTIES, THE VISITOR WAS INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE COLLECTIVE FORMULATION
OF QUESTIONS THAT AROSE FROM THE THEME OF THAT EDITION OF LA BIENNALE: HOW WILL
WE LIVE TOGETHER?
A YEAR LATER, THE EXHIBITION TRANSFORMS THE EL TANQUE CULTURAL SPACE INTO A TIME
CAPSULE, A FRACTION OF THE PRECISE MOMENT WHEN WE FIRST FACE THIS QUESTION,
WHEN TIME SEEMS TO SLOW DOWN AND ALL THE ANSWERS APPEAR SIMULTANEOUSLY.
TO GO THROUGH UNCERTAINTY IS TO GO ACROSS A DARK, SOLEMN SPACE, ACCOMPANIED
ONLY BY THE SOUND OF THE SEA. A DARKNESS BROKEN IN ITS CORE BY A VOLUME OF
INFINITE POSSIBILITIES THAT INVITES US TO ENTER IT. A HETEROGENEOUS CLOUD OF
PORTFOLIOS, GENERATED FROM THOUSANDS OF SHEETS OF PAPER, THAT APPROACHES
AND MOVES AWAY FROM US, MARKING A PATH ALONG WHICH WE CAN DISCOVER PROPOSALS
AND ACTIONS THAT FORM PART OF AN ALMOST INFINITY REPOSITORY OF STRATEGIES FOR
LIVING TOGETHER.
IN THE EXHIBITION RING THAT SURROUNDS THIS CLOUD, THE DIFFERENT PROCESSES THAT
SHAPE IT APPEAR: SITUATIONS, CONTEXTS, INTERPRETATIONS AND INTERRELATIONS THAT
SERVE AS A REFERENCE. IN THIS SPACE, WE SEPARATED THE POSSIBILITIES THAT MOST
CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION IN ORDER TO SEE THEM UP CLOSE, AND THUS BE ABLE TO DECIDE
ON THOSE THAT A MORE IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS SHOWS US TO BE THE MOST APPROPRIATE
RESPONSES TO THE QUESTION POSED.
WE FINALLY ARRIVED AT A GROUP OF 34 QUESTIONS THAT EXPAND ON SARKIS’ OWN THEME,
WORKS THAT WERE SELECTED AND SHOWN IN DETAIL DURING THE EXHIBITION IN VENICE.
INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECTS, WITH A POSITIVE SOCIAL IMPACT THAT USE THE STRATEGIES
AND TOOLS OF ARCHITECTURE IN A CREATIVE WAY TO ADDRESS SPECIFIC PROBLEMS OF
COEXISTENCE.
FROM HERE THE VISITOR CAN MAKE A DECISION, CONTINUE ON THEIR WAY WITH WHAT THEY
HAVE LEARNED OR GO BACK INTO THE CLOUD AND REPEAT THE INMERSION INTO THE
PROCESSES OF REFLECTION THAT ARISE FROM UNCERTAINTY, THUS FORMING PART OF AN
INFINITE LOOP IN WHICH THE PROPOSALS THEMSELVES AND THEIR INTERRELATIONSHIPS
HAVE THE CAPACITY TO GENERATE NEW QUESTIONS THAT BROADEN THE HORIZON OF HOW
WE WILL LIVE TOGETHER.

Credits:

Architecture: Uncertainty Team (Domingo Jacobo González Galván, Sofía Piñero Rivero, Andrzej Gwizdala, Fernando Herrera Pérez)
Location: Espacio Cultural El Tanque, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canarias.
Date: 2022
Photography and film: Imagen Subliminal (Miguel de Guzmán + Rocío Romero)

Architects: Uncertainty

Uncertainty Team

Domingo González
Andrzej Gwizdala
Fernando Herrera
Sofía Piñero