1990-2021

Etopía (Zaragoza)

N.H.H.R. is a work created by means of a computer program the manifestation of which is a loop of twenty-one phrases, to be chosen in three languages, that include statements, questions, delays and doubts that bring to the single answer: “No Hi Ha Res” (there is nothing there).

In 1990, reading a poem by E. E. Cummings, it occurred to me to mentally change the order of the text, and I realized that on that occasion it produced an attractive result. The text worked well in some combinations, as Octavio Paz had foreseen in his youthful poem Discos Visuales. At the time I used a SINCLAIR ZX81 computer and the BASIC programming language to build a program that would randomly order 21 phrases and make 3 phrases appear, stopping the process for a few seconds, made them disappear, and made a new random choice. Some years later I made the piece work with an IBM PC5150. Now it works as an autonomous program that can be watched in my website.

In 2004, the gallery owner Carles Poy incorporated the piece as a resident work in one of his websites.

In 2010 I asked Carlos Pazos to write 21 sentences for me, warning him of the diabolical way it worked, changing the meaning of the text required. The result was HABLANDO SOLO O QUIZÁS CON NADIE (Talking alone or perhaps with nobody). A good piece. At that time I had made the video REPRISE 13’ 13’’, and I used some phrases for the same purpose.

In 2015 I built the version ALCO & SPORLAN, a piece that had to do with advertising campaigns in the retail section, intended for display in a fashion-chain show-window.

Up until now the circulation of this piece has accompanied me all these years, and it works in a way that is automatic and pseudo-intuitive.

Don’t think about it, don’t think about it! If you think about it you’ll loose it.